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CHRISTIAN    MISSIONS 
IN   CHINA 


BY 


CHARLES   S.   ESTES,  A.  M. 


A  Dissertation  submitted  to  the  Board  of  University  Studies  of  the 

Johns  Hopkins  University  in  conformity  with  the  requirements 

for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  1895 


17  I 


4 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 
IN  CHINA 


1554i)6 


PREFACE 

The  following  pages  were  brought  to  a  close  in  1896, 
and  are  now  printed  with  no  expectation  that  they  will 
fully  explain  the  existing  conditions  in  China.  A  great 
war  has  recently  made  serious  changes  in  the  political  situa- 
tion, and  the  final  effect  on  missionary  work  cannot  yet  be 
determined.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  history  of  mis- 
sions down  to  the  last  decade  of  the  Nineteenth  Century, 
is  a  part  of  the  permanent  history  of  China,  and  to  this 
these  few  chapters  are  offered  as  a  slight  contribution. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Introduction 9 

Chapter  I.— The  Early  Period 11 

Chapter  II. — The  Roman  Catholic  Period 14 

Chapter  III.— The  Modern  Period 23 

Chapter  IV.  — Phases  of  Missionary  Work 39 

BiBLIOGBAPHY 59 

Vita 62 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA. 
INTRODUCTION. 

In  the  earliest  period  known  to  history,  were  three  great 
nations.  The  record  of  one  is  in  the  pyramids,  of  another, 
in  clay  tablets.  The  third  lives  on,  exhibiting  to  the  nine- 
teenth century  of  the  Christian  era  the  life,  the  art,  the 
thought  of  the  nineteenth  century  before  Christ  "It  is 
curious  to  think  that  we  have  as  contemporaries  a  nation 
of  men  who,  in  all  their  intellectual  capacities,  are  nearer 
to  the  ancient  Egyptians  or  Chaldeans  than  to  a  modern 
Englishman  or  Frenchman."^ 

It  would  be  of  great  interest  to  study  China  as  an  inter- 
preter of  the  two  extinct  civilizations.^  Other  inquiries, 
however,  press  for  an  answer:  What  has  preserved  this 
nation  through  the  centuries  ?  Thoughtful  men  agree 
that  she  can  no  longer  endure  as  she  is.  What  changes 
must  she  undergo  to  make  her  possible  to  the  present 
world?  The  answer  to  both  questions  seems  to  be  the 
same.  China  has  faced  the  past.  She  has  worshiped  the 
ancestors.  This  mental  attitude,  forbidding  all  change,/ 
has  saved  the  nation  from  division,  but  now  while  sh^ 
holds  this  attitude,  modern  civilization  has  no  power  over 
her.  A  change  in  national  characteristics  is  prerequisite 
to  her  progress,  even  before  foreign  telegraphs  and  ma- 
chinery. 

Observing  how  her  national  life  is  the  inevitable  resultant 
of  her  religion,  one  soon  comes  to  believe  that  nothing 
short  of  a  religious  revolution  can  reconstruct  China. 
Four  of  the  great  religions  of  the  world  have  been  already 
tried.     Confucianism,  Taoism,  Buddhism  have  blended  in 

1  Perot  and  Chippiez,  Chaldean  Art,  II.  378. 

2  As  Lacouperie  and  Edkins  have  done. 


10  Christian  Missions  in  China 

a  way  unintelligible  to  a  western  mind.  Mohammedism  has 
some  hold  along  the  western  and  northern  frontiers,  but, 
thus  far,  has  been  unable  to  extend  its  power.  There  is  a 
necessity  for  a  new  and  dynamic  faith. 

This  is  seen  not  only  by  foreigners,^  but  occasionally  by 
Chinamen.  The  Japanese  war  elicited  the  same  opinion 
from  a  third  source.  Mr.  James  Creelman  wrote  from  Korea 
to  his  paper,  the  New  York  World,  November,  8,  1894: 
"The  brother-in-law  of  the  King  asks  me  to  say  to  the 
American  public  that  Christianity  is  the  only  thing  that 
can  save  this  country.  Korea  is  under  the  influence  of 
Confucianism  and  can  make  no  progress  unless  another 
system  is  introduced." 

In  a  study  of  Chinese  missions  are  involved,  then,  two 
great  questions:  the  possible  adaptation  of  Christianity  to 
a  third  of  the  human  race,  and  the  possible  renovation 
and  continued  existence  of  the  vast  and  ancient  empire. 

3  Of.  address  of  George  T.  Cantlin  at  the  Chicago  Parliament  of 
Religions. 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  EAKLY  PERIOD. 

The.  date  when  Christianity  was  introduced  to  China 
can  not  be  told.  The  breviary  of  the  Malabar  church 
and  the  Syrian  Canon  each  relates  that  Saint  Thomas,  an 
immediate  disciple  of  our  Lord,  preached  to  the  Chinese. 
Not  a  few  writers  accept  this  statement.  It  is,  perhaps, 
more  probable  that  the  accounts  perpetuate  a  legend  which 
had  no  existence  before  the  fourth  century.  ^ 

There  are  indications  that  Christianity  found  early 
access  to  the  country.  The  first  certain  date,  however,  is 
furnished  by  the  Nestorian  monument  discovered  in  1625 
in  Shen-si  province.  This  is  a  stone  slab  covered  by  an  in- 
scription whose  translation  requires  about  fifteen  hundred 
words.  The  writing  sets  forth  the  Christian  doctrine  and 
describes  the  beginning  of  a  niission  from  the  Syrian 
Nestorians  to  China:  "Olopun  carried  with  him  the  true 
scriptures.  A  translation  was  presented  to  the  Emperor, 
and  in  the  twelfth  year  of  Chang- wan  (638  A.  D.)  he  de- 
clared, '  we  find  these  doctrines  admirable.  Let  them  have 
free  course  throughout  the  Empire.'  "^ 

Under  Imperial  protection  the  new  sect  increased  rap- 
idly.    But  it  soon  experienced  opposition  from  the  indige- 

1  Eldridge,  the  Syrian  Churches,  p.  15  etc.  McLean  and  Browne, 
The  Catholicos  of  the  East  p.  3.  Hue,  Christianity  in  China,  1,  17. 
Foreign  Missions  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  No.  144,  p.  3. 

2  A  reduced  facsimile  of  the  tablet  may  be  seen  in  Yule's  Marco 
Polo  II,  pp.  17  and  93,  or  in  the  Missionary  Review  of  the  World, 
Feb.,  1895.  The  inscription  has  been  translated  m^ny  times.  See 
Legge's  Nestorian  Monument. 


12  Christian  Missions  in  China 

nous  religions.  Another  foreign  religion,  Buddhism, 
which  had  entered  China  at  about  the  same  time  as  Chris- 
tianity, was  making  itself  obnoxious.  In  845  Emperor 
Wu-Tsung  declared  in  an  edict  that  great  masses  of  people 
were  withdrawing  from  their  duties  as  citizens  to  give 
themselves  up  to  religious  retirement.  He  therefore  or- 
dered four  thousand  six  hundred  great  Buddhist  monas- 
teries to  be  destroyed,  and  directed  that  "  Three  hundred 
other  foreign  priests,  whether  of  Tath-sin^  or  of  Muhura, 
should  return  to  secular  life,  to  the  end  that  the  customs 
of  the  Empire  may  be  uniform."*  It  was  at  this  time 
probably,  two  hundred  years  after  their  entrance  to  China, 
that  the  Nestorians,  to  preserve  if  possible  the  record  of 
their  work,  committed  it  to  the  Shen-si  monument. 

Flourishing  religions  are  not  annihilated  by  a  single 
assault.  Buddhism  lived  on,  and  Marco  Polo,  in  the  story 
of  his  journey  to  Cathay  (1290)  speaks  frequently  of  Nes- 
torian  churches.^  The  early  Franciscan  missionaries 
found  the  Nestorians  bitter  opponents.**  Trigault,  '^ 
writing  in  the  first  of  the  seventeenth  century,  says  that 
the  Nestorians  had  been  numerous,  but  that  persecution 
had  arisen  against  them  and  they  became  extinct  about 
1540.  Missionaries  in  recent  times  have  nevertheless 
found  some  traces  of  them.  One  small  community  is  be- 
lieved to  exist  still  in  western  China. ^ 

The  second  historic  attempt  to  christianize  China  was 
made  in  the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth  century.  This 
was  a  period  of  great  activity.  The  Mongol  power  was  at 
its  height,  supreme  in  the  East,  feared  even  in  the  West. 
The  period  saw  the  last  passionate  surge  of  the  crusades. 
It  marked  the  commercial  activity  of  Venice,  and  the  splen- 

8  That  is,  of  the  Roman  Empire,  the  Nestorians. 
'^  Du  Halde,  China,  I,  p.  618,  in  his  collection  of  Chinese  State 
Papers. 

5  Yule's  Marco  Polo,  I,  p.  250;  II,  p.  139. 

6  Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither,  I,  198. 

'^  De  Christiana  Expeditione  apud  Sinas,  Ch.  XI. 
8  Missions  and  Science,  p.  173. 


The  Early  Period  13 

did  zeal  of  the  great  preaching  orders  of  Saint  Dominic 
and  Saint  Francis.  It  was  inevitable  that  these  condi- 
tions should  produce  results.  Marco  Polo  sought  among 
the  Mongols  an  extension  of  the  Venetian  trade.  The 
friars  took  them  religion.  This  second  attempt,  the  first 
movement  of  the  Roman  church  on  China,  is  associated 
with  the  names  of  two  priests,  John  of  Monte  Oorvino,  and 
Oderick  of  Friuli.  "At  Khanbalik,  in  the  kingdom  of 
Cathay,  the  8th  of  January,  1805,"  John  wrote,  "I  have 
baptized  six  thousand  persons,  I  have  converted  George,  a 
prince  who  was  formerly  a  Nestorian,  to  the  true  faith,  I 
have  not  for  twelve  years  received  intelligence  from  Rome, 
I  have  translated  into  the  Tartar  tongue  the  whole  of  the 
New  Testament  and  the  Psalter,  and  I  teach  publicly  the 
law  of  Jesus  Christ."^ 

Pope  Clement  V.  appointed  John  of  Corvino  Archbishop 
of  China,  and  sent  him  seven  assistants  together  with  a  let- 
ter to  Timour,  the  great  Khan.  The  Khan  answered:  "We 
pray  the  Pope  to  make  mention  of  us  in  his  holy  prayers. 
We  beg  him  also  to  send  us  some  horses."^^ 

In  1369  came  the  Chinese  revolt  against  their  foreign 
masters.  The  Mongols  were  expelled  and  with  them  the 
missionaries.^^  Urban  V.  struggled  for  a  time  to  gain  a 
position  for  Christianity  with  the  new  Ming  dynasty,  but 
the  obstacles  were  too  great.  The  missionaries  he  sent 
disappeared,  the  results  of  Corvino's  work  were  swept 
away,  and  for  two  hundred  years  China  was  again  closed 
to  Christian  influence. 

9  Cathay,  I,  197. 

10  Hue,  Christianity  in  China,  I,  343. 
iiQrbis  Terrarum,  "China." 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  PERIOD. 

The  Period  of  Growth,  1579  to  1722. 
The  Period  of  Decline,  1722  to  1809. 

The  last  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century  saw  the  mis- 
sionary labors  which  established  Chinese  Christianity  as 
a  real  influence.  Like  those  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
they  were  a  manifestation  of  a  new  and  world  wide  activ- 
ity. The  Renaissance  had  come.  Portuguese  navigators, 
searching  for  Cathay,  had  rounded  Africa  and  taken  pos- 
session of  Malacca.  From  this  base,  Saint  Francis  Xavier, 
fresh  from  his  missionary  triumphs  in  India  and  Japan, 
attempted  in  1552  to  reach  China,  but  baffled  by  Chinese 
exclusiveness  and  worn  out  by  toil,  he  died  in  sight  of  the 
land  of  his  desire. 

In  1560  the  Portuguese  on  the  petition  of  the  Chinese 
Mandarins  expelled  a  band  of  pirates  from  an  island  which 
"commanded  the  harbor  of  Canton.  As  a  reward,  the 
Portuguese  were  allowed  to  settle  the  island  themselves. 
They  were  also  allowed  to  sail  from  their  new  town  of 
Macao  to  Canton  and  to  trade  in  the  city,  under  surveil- 
lance, between  the  hours  of  sunrise  and  sunset.^ 

Here  was  a  fresh  opportunity  for  the  Catholic  church 
to  enter  China.  Strong  religious  houses  were  established 
at  Macao.  The  Jesuits  founded  a  house  there  to  which 
Valignani,^  the  superintendent  of  the  eastern  Jesuit  mis- 

1  Hue,  Christianity  in  China,  II,  37.  For  an  altogether  different 
account  from  the  Chinese  point  of  view  see  p.  78  appendix  to  2d. 
Vol.  of  Memoirs  of  Robert  Morrison. 

2  "O  Rock,  Rock,  Rock,  when  wilt  thou  open  to  my  Lord?"  are 
Valignani's  words,  not  Xavier's  as  ordinarily  quoted.  Du  Halde 
11,4. 


Christian  Missions  in  China  15 

sions,  directed  the  most  talented  men  of  the  order.  Two 
of  these  were  Fathers  Michael  Roger  and  Mathieu  Ricci. 
Splendidly  trained,  persistent,  and  adroit,  they  were  well 
fitted  for  their  task.  In  1582  the  viceroy  of  Kuang-Tung 
(Canton)  province  ordered  the  Portuguese  to  send  an 
embassy  to  his  capital.  By  a  little  artifice  Father  Roger  im- 
personated the  Portuguese  bishop,^  made  himself  agree- 
able, and  won  the  favor  of  the  viceroy  by  presenting  him 
with  a  clock.  News  of  the  wonderful  machine  spread  from 
mandarin  to  mandarin.  Their  anxiety  to  secure  a  similar 
treasure  on  the  one  hand  and  their  jealousy  of  the  foreigners 
on  the  other  caused  a  condition  of  affairs  truly  Chinese. 
The  missionaries  were  alternately  flattered  and  insulted. 
One  day  they  were  presented  with  houses;  the  next,  they 
were  banished  to  Macao,  only  to  be  recalled  immediately 
by  some  childish  official. 

The  situation  rapidly  developed  the  policy  of  the  Jesuit 
missions.  The  Fathers  aimed,  first,  to  make  themselves 
invaluable  to  the  Government  by  scientific  services;  sec- 
ond, to  win  the  regard  of  the  people  by  complying  with 
the  forms  of  the  existing  religion  so  far  as  possible;  third, 
to  teach  their  own  system;  and  fourth,  to  secure  a  foot- 
hold at  Peking  where  they  would  be  near  the  Emperor. 
After  a  little,  Roger  returned  to  Rome  and  Father  Ricci 
was  left  in  sole  charge.  His  suppleness  enabled  him  to 
succeed  when  others  would  have  failed.  When  tne  pic- 
ture of  the  Virgin  over  the  altar  offended,  the  picture  was 
taken  down.*  The  likeness  of  the  Emperor  was  promi- 
nently displayed.  Father  Ricci  prepared  a  map  which 
showed  China  as  the  great  Middle  Kingdom  with  the 
other  nations  holding  small  places  around  it.  He  soon 
became  influential,  and  in  1601  he  achieved  his  desire  of 
reaching  Peking,  where  he  lived  the  remainder  of  his  life 
under  the  immediate  protection  of  the  Emperor,  whose 
regard  and  friendship  he  enjoyed.    Under  his  official  title, 

8  Hue,  ib. 
*  Hue,  II.  pp.  58,  155,  164. 


16  The  Roman  Catholic  Period 

*'The  Great  Doctor  of  Mathematics,"  Kicci  published  a 
large  number  of  scientific  and  religious  writings.  Two 
works  which  he  adapted  from  classical  sources  won  him 
especial  honor.  These  were  "A  Treatise  on  Memory,"  and 
"A  Dialogue  on  Friendship."^  The  Chinese  pride  them- 
selves on  these  virtue^!. 

Included  in  the  surprising  number  of  converts  which 
Father  Ricci  won,  were  several  from  the  higher  classes. 
The  most  eminent  were  Li,  a  distinguished  scholar,®  and 
Su,  a  minister  of  the  Government,  who  became  champions 
of  Christianity.  Su's  daughter,  who  received  the  name 
of  "Candida"  devoted  her  life  to  charity  and  became  the 
Saint  Elizabeth  of  China. '^  A  Protestant  missionary 
wrote  in  1858  that  many  of  Candida's  descendants  were 
still  Romanists.^ 

Few  men  have  ever  accomplished  more  than  Father 
Ricci.  His  methods  have  been  criticized,  but  no  one 
questions  his  devotion,  ignores  the  magnitude  of  his 
work,  or  denies  him  the  title,  "Founder  of  the  Chinese 
Church."  At  his  death  in  1611,  an  imperial  edict  com- 
memorated his  great  learning  and  services  to  the  state, 
and  ordered  a  monument  to  be  erected  to  his  memory  at 
public  expense.^ 

Apparently  the  Christian  religion  was  firmly  established, 
but  seeds  of  dissension  had  been  sown  in  the  Church  it- 
self.^*^     Ricci  had  not  opposed  Confucianism,  maintaining 

5  Trigault,  Ch.  Ill,  p.  303.  Ricci  was  the  first  to  identify  China 
with  the  Cathay  of  Marco  Polo.  The  overland  journey  (1603  to  1606) 
of  another  Jesuit,  Benedict  Goes,  first  convinced  Europeans  of  the 
identity.     Cf .  Cathay  and  Way  Thither,  II.  529-596. 

«  Trigault  has  preserved  Li's  written  profession  of  faith.  Ch.  IV. 
p.  47. 

7  Gutzlaff,  Chinese  History,  II,  118.  Gutzlaff's  statement  (His- 
tory II,  121.)  that  at  the  time  of  Ricci's  death  there  were  over  three 
hundred  churches  in  the  provinces,  is  both  improbable  and  out  of 
harmony  with  later  statistics. 

8  Milne,  Life  in  China.     Ch.  IV.  474. 
»  Trigault,  Ch.  V.  633  et.  seq. 

0  Hue,  II,  197  et.  seq.  Gutzlaff,  History,  II,  134. 


Christian  Missions  in  China  17 

that  it  needed  only  some  additions  to  make  it  Christianity. 
He  permitted  his  converts  to  continue  their  worship  of 
the  *'Lord  of  Heaven,"  because  the  Lord  of  Heaven  must 
be  God.  He  did  not  forbid  participation  in  the  established 
religious  feasts,  or  the  worship  of  ancestors,  regarding 
these  as  only  expressions  of  filial  remembrance.  Father 
Lombard,  who  succeeded  Ricci,  took  altogether  a  different 
view,  and  prohibited  such  rites.  He  forbade  the  term  of 
"Lord  of  Heaven"  (Tien-Chu  or  Chang. Ti)ii  to  be  used 
in  Christian  worship.  Appeal  was  made  to  Rome  and 
Ricci's  views  were  upheld. 

In  1631  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  began  to  arrive.  ^^ 
They  too  opposed  the  practice  of  ancestral  rites  by  Chris- 
tian converts,  and  they  quarreled  continually  with  the 
Jesuits.  All  China  was  now  in  confusion.  The  Emperor 
had  grown  old  and  imbecile.  Ministers  who  were  hostile 
to  Christianity  governed  in  his  name  and  started  a  perse- 
cution which  was  stopped  only  by  the  determined  attitude 
of  Su.  ^^  The  disorder  increased  until  1644  when  the  Ming 
dynasty  fell.  ^* 

The  missions  gained  by  the  change.  The  Jesuit  Father 
Schali,  who  had  been  President  of  the  College  of  Mathe- 

11  This  is  the  term  commonly  employed  at  the  present  time  by 
Catholics  in  China  to  designate  the  Deity.  Its  connection  with 
heathen  worship  explains  in  part  the  reluctance  of  Protestants  to 
use  it.  Besides,  its  sound  is  almost  identical  with  the  Chinese 
words  meaning  "heavenly  pig."  For  the  Chinese  use  of  this  term 
in  placards  and  caricatures  of  Christianity  see  Douglas,  Society  in 
China,  p.  282.  The  question  of  the  rites  came  up  in  Protestant 
churches  as  late  as  the  Shanghai  Conference  of  Protestant  Mission- 
aries in  1890.     Cf .  the  records  I,  671,  690. 

12  Marshall,  Christian  Missions,  I,  68. 

13  Su's  defense  of  Christianity  published  at  this  time  is  the  earli- 
est Chinese  Apology.  It  is  given  in  full  in  the  Chinese  Repository, 
Vol.  XIX,  p.  118. 

1*  A  Ming  prince  held  the  title  of  Emperor  at  Canton  for  some  time 
after  this,  but  his  authority  was  recognized  in  only  two  provinces. 
His  wife,  "the  Empress  Helena,"  was  a  Christian.  Her  letter  to 
the  Pope  asking  his  assistance  against  her  enemies  is  well  known. 
Cf .  Gutzlaff's  History  II.  1221. 


18  The  Roman  Catholic  Period 

matics  and  who  had  taught  the  Mings  the  art  of  casting 
cannon  as  a  means  of  defence  against  their  enemies,  at 
once  transferred  his  services  to  the  new  Tartar  (Ta-tsing) 
dynasty.  The  Jesuits  gradually  won  favor  again,  till  the 
accession  of  Chang-Hi,  in  1661,  ushered  in  the  golden  age 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  church  in  China.  Chang-Hi  was 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  monarchs  who  ever  sat  upon  a 
throne.  A  soldier  and  a  conqueror,  he  was  also  a  scholar, 
an  author  and  a  broad-minded  man.  He  gathered  the 
learned  Jesuits  about  him,  admitted  them  freely  to  his 
presence,  and  conversed  with  them  on  scientific  and  philo- 
sophic themes.  The  fathers  grew  better  acquainted  with 
China,  because  for  nine  years  as  state  officials  they  trav- 
eled over  the  whole  empire  making  the  first  accurate  maps. 
They  determined  the  latitude  and  longitude  of  every  "first 
rank"  city,  and  produced  what  was  then  ''the  most  complete 
geographical  work  ever  executed  out  of  Europe."  ^^  Verbi- 
est  reformed  the  calendar,  saying  to  the  chagrined  and 
jealous  native  astronomers:  ''It  is  not  in  my  power  to  make 
the  heavens  agree  with  your  diagrams."  ^^  The  Jesuits 
also  served  as  China  diplomats,  especially  in  the  work  of 
fixing  the  Russian  boundary. 

The  religious  interests  prospered  proportionally.  The 
emperor,  grateful  for  their  services,  rewarded  the  Jesuits 
with  ecclesiastical  gifts,  the  only  ones  which  the  mission- 
aries would  accept.  We  are  told  that  he  built  for  them  a 
magnificent  church  at  Peking,  and  placed  upon  it  an  in- 
scription written  by  his  vermillion  pencil:  "It  is  infinitely 
good  and  infinitely  just."^"^ 

One  priest  reports  to  his  superior  that  in  1707  he  had  bap- 
tized sixteen  hundred  neophytes  and  a  thousand  adults.  ^* 
Besides  they  baptized  "vast  numbers  of  young  children 
who  have  been  abandoned,  most  of  whom  go  into  Paradise 


15  Remusat.    The  maps  are  printed  in  Du  Halde's  China. 

16  Dean,  Christian  Missions  in  China. 

17  Lettres  Edifiantes,  XVII,  87. 

18  Lettres  Edifiantes,  XVIII,  92. 


Christian  Missions  in  China  19 

the  day  after  their  baptism."  ^®  European  catholics  zeal- 
ously aided  the  missions.  The  Seminary  for  Foreign 
Missions,  by  which  the  work  in  China  was  supported  for 
more  than  a  century,  was  founded  in  Paris  in  1663. 

But  when  Chang-Hi  died,  in  1722,  an  entirely  new  era 
dawned  in  China.  Chang-Hi,  in  1692,  had  granted  to  the 
Christians  a  legal  right  to  worship  in  their  own  manner. 
The  pope  thought  that  the  whole  case  was  won  and  sent 
so  many  missionaries  that  the  suspicious  Chinese  began  to 
fear  that  the  priests  were  the  advance  guard  of  a  foreign 
invasion.  Moreover,  the  missionaries  were  not  at  peace 
among  themselves.  The  controversies  over  the  rites  ^^  still 
continued.  At  length  Clement  XI.  sent  a  papal  legate, 
Toumon,  with  full  powers  to  determine  the  question.  He 
strictly  forbade  any  Christians  to  participate  in  the  rites 
which  he  called  pagan  ceremonies.  ^^  The  pope  hereupon 
required  every  missionary  to  promise  to  be  strictly  obedi- 
ent to  Kome  in  this  prohibition.  Emperor  Chang  angrily 
repudiated  the  right  of  any  foreigner  to  determine  forms, 
even  religious  ones,  for  China,  and  he  immediately  decreed 
that  any  missionary  entering  China  should  spend  his  life 
there,  a  subject  of  the  emperor,  and  that  he  should  teach 
the  doctrines  which  Father  Ricci  had  prescribed.  ^^ 

Yong-Ching,  on  succeeding  to  the  throne,  at  once  ad- 
dressed an  edict  to  the  missionaries:  "You  wish  that  all 
Chinamen  should  become  Christians,  but  in  that  event 
what  would  become  of  us  ?  Should  we  not  be  soon  merely 
subjects  of  your  king?  The  converts  you  have  already 
made  recognize  no  one  but  you.  I  will  permit  you  to  re- 
side at  Peking  and  at  Canton  so  long  as  you  give  no  cause 

i»  Lockman's  Travels  of  the  Jesuits,  I,  85.  The  date  is  Nov.  1, 
1700. 

20  See  pages  16-17. 

21  Lettres,  XX,  523. 

22  Gutzlaff,  History,  139.  Alzog,  Church  History,  III,  577,  gives 
an  account  of  this  controversy  and  the  conflicting  decisions  of  Inno- 
cent X.  and  Alexander  VII.  Jenkins,  Jesuits  in  China,  London, 
1894,  is  a  minute  study  of  Tournon's  mission. 


20  The  Roman  Catholic  Period 

for  complaint.  I  will  have  none  of  you  in  the  provinces."  ^^ 
While  the  decree  was  moderate  it  closed  the  provincial 
churches.  Native  Christians  suffered  in  certain  districts, 
and  the  emperor  banished  some  princes  of  a  younger 
branch  of  the  imperial  house,  who  had  embraced  Chris- 
tianity.2* 

In  1744  Emperor  Keen-Lung  inaugurated  the  only 
general  Christian  persecution  which  China  has  ever  seen. 
Five  Spanish  priests  had  disregarded  the  law  and  gone  out 
to  the  provinces.  These  men  together  with  every  native 
who  had  aided  them  or  who  had  accepted  their  teachings 
were  executed  in  legal  form,  and  the  Christians  in  all  the 
provinces  were  then  assailed.  The  letters  which  the  mis- 
sionaries wrote  at  this  time  are  filled  with  accounts  of  the 
persecution.  They  relate  many  instances  of  devotion  as 
unshrinking  as  that  exhibited  in  the  early  persecutions 
directed  against  the  Roman  church.  Still  there  is  no  trust- 
worthy estimate  of  the  number  who  perished.  Probably 
the  number  was  smaller  than  the  first  reading  of  the  ac- 
counts would  seem  to  indicate,  as  the  same  instances  of  mar- 
tyrdom are  many  times  repeated.  Fewer  than  twelve  Euro- 
peans are  actually  named  as  losing  their  lives. ^^ 

While  the  priests  seem  to  have  been  living  at  Peking 
during  the  entire  period  on  intimate  and  friendly  terms 
with  the  emperor,  amusing  him  with  mechanical  toys, 
painting  his  picture,  and  holding  long  conversations  with 
him,^®  it  is  clear  that  the  emperors  had  formed  a  fixed  policy 
of  ridding  their  country  of  foreign  religion  and  foreign  in- 
fluence.   Their  purpose  strengthened  with  growing  reports 

23  Boulgar,  History  of  China,  II,  435. 

24  Lettres  XX.  54  Cf .  Boulgar,  History  II,  428. 

25  Lettres  XX,  15  &  54;  XXXIII,  72.  Annals,  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Faith  IX,  300.  Marshall's  Christian  Missions  p. 
80.  For  curious  statements  about  miracles  during  the  persecution 
see  Annals  V,  391;  Annals  XXIII,  33. 

26  Lettres,  XXII  and  XXIII.  This  portrait  is  reproduced  in  Boul- 
gar's  History,  Vol,  2.  The  Emperors  were  freely  accessible  to 
foreigners. 


Christian  Missions  in  China  21 

of  wars  and  confusions  in  Europe,  the  home  of  the  foreign 
religion  and  policy.  The  suppression  of  the  Jesuits  (1773) 
on  the  one  hand  stopped  much  of  the  Church's  aggressive 
power,  ^'^  and,  on  the  other  heightened  the  suspicions 
of  the  Chinese.  Without  banishing  the  remaining  priests 
the  government  guarded  them  with  such  care  and 
required  so  much  scientific  service  from  them  that  they 
could  do  little  religious  work.^*  The  Portuguese  traders  at 
Macao  refused  any  longer  to  admit  missionaries  who  were 
not  subjects  of  Portugal,^®  and  the  East  India  Company 
at  Canton  was  unfriendly.  The  work  which  had  opened 
so  auspiciously  had  begun  to  decline  as  soon  as  the  death 
of  Chang  permitted  the  mass  of  Chinese  to  manifest  their 
real  feeling,  and  finally,  the  temporal  downfall  of  the 
Papacy  itself  in  1809  marked  the  close  of  the  Catholic 
period. 

The  toil  of  two  hundred  years  had  produced  results, 
however,  which  were  not  lost.  In  the  first  place  the  mis- 
sionaries had  revealed  China  to  the  world.  "To  Koman 
Catholic  missionaries  Europe  was  indebted  for  almost  all 
the  knowledge  it  had  of  China  down  to  the  second  decade 
of  the  nineteenth  century."  ^^  "Where  neither  traveler 
nor  merchant  had  penetrated,  the  Catholic  missionary  had 
found  his  way."^^  Second,  the  missionaries  had  done  the 
pioneer  work  in  mastering  the  language.  They  had  pre- 
pared dictionaries,  printed  devotional  and  scientific  books 
in  Chinese,  and  had  in  manuscript  a  Chinese  Harmony  of 
the  Gospels,  the  book  of  Acts,  and  the  Pauline  Epistles.  ^^ 
Third,   they   had  gathered,  a  body  of  native   Christians, 

27  "Let  us  submit  and  adore,  yet  my  heart  has  received  an  incur- 
able wound,  O  my  Grod,  how  many  souls  will  be  replunged  into  the 
darkness  of  idolatry."  The  Jesuit  Superior  at  Peking.  Annals  IX, 
310. 

28  McCartney,  Mission  to  China,  (1793-4)  II,  386-8. 

29  Gutzlaff,  History,  154. 

80  Legge,  Congresso  Int.  degli  Orientaliste  1878,  Kecords,  p.  225. 
31  Gutzlaff,  China  Opened,  I,  180, 
32  Morrison  used  this  subsequently. 


22  The  Roman  Catholic  Period 

some  of  whom  held  to  their  faith  in  spite  of  all  persecu- 
tions. The  road  to  China  had  been  opened.  There  could 
be  no  rest  till  western  civilization  and  western  religion 
pressed  their  way  along  it. 


(    I'NfVERSiTY  J 


CHAPTER  III. 
THE  MODERN  PERIOD. 

Period  of  Preparation,  1780  to  1842. 
Period  of  Growth,  since  1842. 

It  was  just  at  the  darkest  period  of  Catholic  Chinese 
Missions  that  the  missionary  spirit  awoke  in  the  Protestant 
churches.  The  same  tide  of  devotion  which  carried  Carey 
to  India  carried  Robert  Morrison,  in  1780,  to  China.  He 
was  not  welcome  there.  Though  an  agent  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society,  he  was  not  permitted  to  sail  on  an 
English  vessel.  He  came  to  America,  and,  provided  with 
an  informal  note  of  introduction  from  Secretary  Madison 
to  the  American  Consul  at  Canton,  made  his  journey  on 
an  American  ship.  A  stranger  to  Chinese  customs,  and 
with  only  the  slightest  acquaintance  with  the  Chinese  lan- 
guage, the  empire  seemed  even  more  hopelessly  closed  to 
him  than  to  the  Catholics,  but  when  he  had  succeeded  in 
actually  reaching  Canton,  he  received  a  courteous  recep- 
tion from  the  agents  of  the  East  India  Company  and  from 
other  foreigners  whom  the  Chinese  allowed  to  trade  there. 
Morrison  quietly  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  the  lan- 
guage/ using  as  one  text  book  the  Catholic  Harmony  of 
the  Grospels  in  Chinese,  a  copy  of  which  he  had  found  in 
the  British  Museum.  The  next  year  he  engaged  as  a 
translator  to  the  East  India  Company,  thus  securing  his 

1  Dr.  Williams  says  in  his  Middle  Kingdom,  II,  "No  Chinese  was 
allowed  to  help  Morrison  in  the  language.  Had  his  object  been  sus- 
pected, he  would  not  have  been  permitted  to  live  a  day."  Morri- 
son's character  was  known  to  the  settlement  generally.  A  China- 
man did  help  him  and  ran  the  risk  of  the  death  penalty  for  teaching 
Chinese  to  a  foreigner.  See  Memoirs  of  Robert  Morrison,  I,  153, 
162,  169,  188,  et  passim. 


24  Christian  Missions  in  China 

residence  and  a  better  opportunity  to  continue  his 
studies.^  Within  sixteen  years  he  had  produced  two 
monumental  works:  a  Chinese  dictionary  which  the  East 
India  Company  printed  at  an  expense  of  XI 2,000,  and  a 
translation  of  the  Bible  which  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  printed  at  a  cost  of  over  .£10,000.^ 

The  Chinese  Government  did  not  view  this  literary  ac- 
tivity with  favor.  In  1805  two  Catholic  missionaries  had 
been  banished  from  China  for  sending  to  Europe  maps  of 
their  districts.  In  1811  an  edict  declared  that  any  Eu- 
ropean or  Chinese  who  printed  books  "to  pervert  the  peo- 
ple" should  be  executed.  Morrison's  font  of  type  was 
twice  destroyed  at  Canton,  and  the  press  had  to  be  removed 
to  Malacca.* 

Other  Protestant  societies  had  now  become  interested 
in  China^  but  the  most  they  could  do  was  to  establish 
themselves  in  towns  on  the  coast  of  Siam,  work  for  the 
Chinese  emigrants  and  sailors  who  came  there,  study  the 
Chinese  language,  and  wait.  In  the  safe  shelters  of  Malacca 
and  Serampore  a  large  amount  of  religious  literature  was 
printed,  including  a  second^  and  a  third'^  version  of  the 
Bible,  and  Charles  Gutzlaff,  a  Prussian  clergyman,  sailed 


2  The  reluctance  of  the  Chinese  to  have  foreigners  learn  their  lan- 
guage is  described  in  McCartney's  Embassy  II,  138,  581. 

3  Brief  Account  of  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  in 
China,  p.  3. 

*  Memoirs,  I,  335.  For  an  acccount  of  the  work  done  at  the 
Anglo-Chinese  college  at  Malacca  see  Memoirs,  II,  39-58. 

5  The  first  notices  of  China  by  American  Societies  are  in  the 
Congregation alist  "Missionary  Herald"  1828,  p.  Ill,  and  in  the  Bap- 
tist "Missionary  Magazine"  1832.  They  were  both  inspired  by  a  Mr. 
Olyphant,  a  New  York  merchant  engaged  in  the  Canton  trade.  He 
forwarded  to  the  two  societies  a  paper,  which  he  had  asked  Dr. 
Morrison  to  prepare,  entitled  "Suggestions  on  the  Conduct  of  Mis- 
sions in  China."  The  ships  of  Talbot,  Olyphant  &  Co.  furnished 
for  years  free  transportation  to  the  missionaries  going  to  China. 

6  By  Marshman,  an  American,  and  Lassar,  an  Armenina. 

7  By  Gutzlaff. 


The  Modern  Period  25 

up  and  down  the  whole  Chinese  coast,  sowing  this  liter- 
ature broadcast.^ 

In  1833  Leang-Afa,  a  Chinese  scholar  who  was  one  of 
the  early  converts,  distributed  to  the  students  taking  the 
state  examinations  at  Canton,  twenty-five  portions  of  the 
Bible  together  with  his  "Good  Words  to  Admonish  the 
Age."» 

In  1822  the  religious  and  civil  disturbances  in  Europe 
were  so  far  settled  that  a  united  Catholic  mission  society, 
the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  was  again 
formed.  ^°  This  began  to  plan  renewed  activity  in  China. 
In  1830  Rev.  Luther  Bridgman,  the  first  missionary 
of  the  American  Congregationalists  to  China,  gained  an 
entrance  to  Canton.  There  in  1832  he  printed  the  first 
number  of  the  "Chinese  Repository,"  which  is  still  pub- 
lished though  now  under  the  name  of  the  Chinese  Re- 
corder. Other  Missions  were  planted  in  Assam  and  Siam, 
in  the  hope  that  the  missionaries  might  gain  access  to  the 
west  of  China  under  the  protection  of  the  land  caravans  of 
the  East  India  Company.  ^^  But  the  times  were  still  un- 
propitious.  In  1834  the  charter  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, which  had  a  monopoly  of  the  Chinese  trade,  expired 
and  the  British  Government  refused  to  renew  it,  saying  that 
trade  with  China  should  be  henceforth  free.  The  Chinese 
flamed  out  in  wrath.  China  might  permit  foreign  mer- 
chants to  trade  as  individuals,  but  how  could  a  foreign 
barbarian  nation  presume  to  grant  trading  rights  with  the 
great  Central  Kingdom  ?  ^^  Lord  Napier,  the  British  agent 
at  Canton,  attempted  to  allay  the  wrath  by  publishing  a 
"Statement  of  Facts"  in  the  Chinese  language.  The  same 
day  the  viceroy  replied  by  a  proclamation  against  those 
traitorous  natives  who  had  taught  foreigners  the  Chinese 


8  See  his  "China  Opened." 

»  Tracy,  History  of  the  American  Board,  p.  276. 

10  The  Jesuits  had  been  re-established  eight  years. 

11  Titterington,  A  Century  of  Baptist  Foreign  Missions,  p.  110. 

12  Boulgar's  China  III,  183. 


26  Christian  Missions  in  China 

language,  and  against  their  evil  and  obscene  books  which 
he  commanded  to  be  destroyed.  This  action  drove  all  the 
missionaries,  together  with  their  helpers,  their  books  and 
their  presses,  from  Can  ton.  ^^  It  seemed  as  if  the  earlier 
Catholic  experience  was  to  be  repeated.  But  England, 
justly  out  of  patience  with  the  shifty  orientals,  and  un- 
justly determined  to  force  her  trade  upon  a  helpless  people, 
took  a  more  and  more  decided  attitude  towards  China. 

The  opium  war  came  in  1842.  It  has  wrought  untold 
misery  to  the  land,  but  it  wrought  good  as  well  as  evil 
Chinese  commerce  was  multiplied  many  times,  and 
within  five  years  ten  more  missionary  societies  (fifteen 
with  the  earlier  ones)  were  at  work  in  the  opened  ports. 
This  date  marks  the  real  beginning  of  the  modern  period 
Since  then  the  missionaries  have  had  "a  place  to  stand." 
This  is  the  date  to  remember  in  estimating  the  success  of 
the  missions. 

The  treaty  signed  at  the  close  of  the  war  made  no  men- 
tion of  Christians.  At  the  simple  request  of  the  French 
Minister,  decrees  were  issued  in  1844  and  in  1846  granting 
freedom  of  worship  to  Chinese  Christians,  with  no  dis- 
tinction between  Catholics  and  Protestants,  and  ordering 
that  the  churches  which  had  been  built  in  the  reign  of 
Chang-Hi  should  be  restored  to  the  native  Christians,  ex- 
cepting those  churches  which  had  been  converted  into 
temples  or  dwelling  houses.^*  At  the  same  time,  foreign- 
ers were  strictly  enjoined  from  going  into  the  country  to 
propagate  their  religion.  "If  any  overstep  the  boundaries 
the  local  officer  will  at  once  seize  them  and  deliver  them 
to  their  respective  consuls  for  correction. "^^ 

One  unlooked  for  result  of  missionary  work  should  be 
noted  here.     One  of  the  students  to  whom  Leang-Afa  had 


13  Tracy,  History  of  the  American  Board,  p.  291. 

14:  Chinese  Repository,  XIV,  195.  XV,  155.  Under  these  decrees 
Catholic  missionaries  laid  claim  to  several  properties.  Friction 
always  resulted,  till  the  attempts  were  discontinued. 

15  Williams,  Middle  Kingdom,  II,  357. 


The  Modern  Period  27 

given  his  tract  in  1833  was  Siu-Tsuen,  a  man  on  the 
border  land  between  insanity  and  genius.  Ten 
years  after  he  had  received  the  book,  he  read  it 
for  the  first  time  and  seemed  to  find  the  explanation 
of  visions  which  he  had  himself  seen.  China  was  in  a  de- 
plorable condition.  Musing  over  the  mysterious  words 
Siu-Tsuen  became  convinced  that  he  was  appointed  by 
heaven  to  overthrow  the  old  dynasty  with  its  religion,  and 
to  establish  a  new  order  of  things  founded  on  Christianity, 
as  he  understood  it.  He  began  by  preaching.  His  earnest- 
ness won  converts.  After  baptizing  these  in  the  Christian 
form,  he  set  up  in  1850  his  banners  inscribed  "Tai-Ping 
Tien-Kuoh,"  Heavenly  King  of  the  Great  Peace,  and 
started  the  insurrection  which  could  not  be  stopped  till  it 
was  crushed  by  General  Gordon  in  1864. 

News  of  their  ally  soon  reached  the  missionaries. 
Some  expected  much  from  him.  Several  wrote  letters 
commending  his  undertaking.  One  of  the  missiona- 
ries, Mr.  Koberts,  "an  uncouth  and  eccentric  person," 
was  his  avowed  agent  to  purchase  war  material  in  Amer- 
ica.^^  With  his  first  successes,  Siu-Tsuen  began  to  drop  his 
purer  teachings  and  to  have  visions  directing  numberless 
atrocities.  The  missionaries  withdrew  their  sympathy. 
Siu's  army  became  a  mob  of  bravos.  "Words  cannot  speak 
the  misery  he  caused"  says  the  imperial  rescript  of  1864. 
Dr.  Williams  estimates  the  loss  of  life  by  millions.  ^^ 
Under  such  circumstances,  it  would  not  have  been  strange 
had  the  insurrection  made  the  Chinese  hostile  to  Chris- 
tians. Such  was  not  the  case.  The  government  pro- 
tested to  Mr.  Burlingame  against  Mr.  Robert's  course,  but 
the  missionary  was  not  even  banished  by  China.  A  French 
priest,  Chapdelaine,  was  executed  in  1856  for  disobedience 
to  the   regulations  confining   missionaries   to   the   treaty 

16  Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  the  United  States  1863,  III,  834. 
Cf .  Marshall's  Missions  I,  200. 

17  Williams,  Middle  Kingdom  II,  604,  624,  642.  Cf .  the  beginning 
of  Mohammedism. 


28  Christian  Missions  in  China 

towns,  ^®  but  no  Christian  is  known  to  have  suffered,  be- 
cause of  the  Tai-ping  rebellion. 

The  privileges  given  the  Christians  by  the  rescript  of 
1844  were  confirmed  by  treaties  signed  in  1858  and  sub- 
sequently. Article  nine  of  the  British  treaty  of  1858  pro- 
vided that  British  subjects  should  be  permitted  to  travel 
every  where  in  China.  ^^  The  other  foreign  powers  at 
once  claimed  the  same  right  under  "the  most  privileged 
nation"  clause  of  their  respective  treaties  with  China.  This 
date  marks  another  advance  for  the  missionaries.  The 
old  edicts  against  Christianity  had,  indeed,  been  enforced 
or  not  according  to  the  temper  of  the  local  mandarin. 
Catholic  priests  had  been  able  here  and  there  to  perform 
the  offices  of  the  church  at  the  risk  of  their  lives,  but 
the  process  of  extermination  had  gone  steadily  on.  Three 
priests  had  been  executed  between  1800  and  1840.^" 
Father  Baldus  wrote  in  1843:  "At  present,  to  speak  proper- 
ly, there  are  no  churches."  ^^  When  Father  Hue,  the  his- 
torian of  the  Catholic  missions,  visited  the  interior  in  1843, 
he  went  in  disguise,  passed  along  with  the  utmost  caution 
from  one  Catholic  family  to  another.  ^^  The  Protestants, 
having  no  converts  in  the  interior,  could  not  do  even  as 
much  as  the  Catholics.  In  fact,  there  were  only  ninety-seven 
Protestant  missionaries  in  all  China  in  1866.  They  had 
made  a  few  itinerant  tours  through  the  interior,  ^^  but 
their  actual  work  was  confined  to  "twelve  of  the  coast 
treaty  towns,  Peking,  and  two  northern  cities."  ^*  Of  the 
eighteen  provinces  of  China,  eleven  were  without  a  Protes- 
tant missionary.  ^^ 

18  He  should  have  been  handed  over  to  the  French  Minister.  See 
above. 

i»  The  treaties  may  be  found  in  Boulgar's  History,  appendix  to 
Vol.  III. 

20  Annals  IV,  303.    Mission  Catholiques,  June  36,  1891. 

21  Annals  IV,  180. 

22  Annals  IV,  162. 

28  China's  Millions,  February  1895. 

24=  Story  of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  I,  6.    II,  10. 

25  China's  Millions,  February,  1895. 


The  Modern  Period  29 

The  land  was  now  opened.  Catholics  reti  rned  to  their 
long  abandoned  churches.  Protestants  began  long  tours 
through  the  interior.  ^^ 

In  1865  the  China  Inland  mission  was  organized  by  Mr. 
Hudson  Taylor.  This  society  has  played  a  unique  and 
important  part  in  the  development  of  missions.  Its  agents 
receive  no  fixed  salary,  and  its  work  is  undenominational. 
In  1889  Rev.  William  Upcraft  and  Mr.  George  Warner 
began  a  mission  in  Si-Chuen  province  with  methods  simi- 
lar to  those  of  the  Inland  mission,  but  in  connection  with 
the  Baptist  denomination.  With  the  exception  of 
Si-Chuen,  the  interior  is  almost  entirely  dependent  on  the 
Inland  mission.  It  has  stations  in  every  province  except 
Hunan  and  Kuang-Si,  which  remain  resolutely  closed. 

The  concessions  made  to  Christianity  by  the  regent, 
Prince  Kung,  in  1844  seem  to  have  been  made  frankly 
without  any  compulsion.  For  most  of  the  concessions 
made  by  the  government  during  the  next  thirty  years  the 
same  statement  can  not  be  made.  The  toleration  of  Chris- 
tianity has  been  forced  upon  China  by  stronger  nations. 
Foreign  force  has  supported  a  foreign  creed  by  the  side  of 
the  religion  which  has  possessed  the  land  for  immemorial 
ages.  If  the  significance  of  this  fact  be  once  grasped,  the 
wonder  will  be,  not  that  there  has  been  opposition,  but 
that  there  has  been  so  little.  Attacks  on  the  missions 
have  gone  on  with  more  or  less  regularity,  but  the  Chinese 
government  has  given  consistent  support  both  to  native 
and  foreign  Christians. 

Local  religious  troubles  are  usually  due  to  the  refusal  of 
native  Christians  to  contribute  to  village  feasts  of  a  hea- 
then character.  Prince  Kung  ordered  in  1862  that  Chris- 
tians should  be  exempt  from  the  temple  tax,  and  should 


26  The  interior  was  made  safer  by  the  Chefoo  Conventions  of  1876. 
To  avert  a  war  threatened  by  England  because  of  the  treacherous 
murder  of  a  British  oflBcer  in  1875,  China  was  obliged  to  take  active 
measures  to  protect  foreigners  in  the  interior.  See  U.  S.  Diplo- 
matic Correspondence,  1887,  pp.  73-77. 


30  Christian  Missions  in  China 

not  be  required  to  support  the  feasts.  If  Christians  suf- 
fered for  their  refusal,  reparation  should  be  made.^'^ 
When  Father  Mabilieu  was  murdered  in  Si-Chuen  in  1864, 
the  city  officers  were  degraded  and  an  edict  was  issued 
concerning  which  Dr.  S.  Wells  Williams,  at  that  time 
Charge  d'affaires  for  the  United  States,  wrote  as  follows: 
"  The  tone  and  circumstances  attending  its  publication  in- 
dicate a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  imperial  government  to 
restrain  such  acts  of  violence.  How  far  it  will  be  able  to 
punish  criminals  and  preserve  peace,  depends  much  on  the 
behavior  of  Christians,  the  disposition  of  the  local  authori- 
ties, and  other  causes  which  can  not  be  immediately  con- 
trolled."^® In  1865  and  1866  the  emperor  issued  edict 
after  edict  commanding  his  local  officers  to  study  the 
treaties  and  observe  them.  ^® 

The  great  riot  at  Tientsing  in  1870  illustrates  many  of 
the  assaults  made  on  the  missionaries  by  the  ignorant  and 
superstitious  people.  The  French  Catholics  had  an  or- 
phanage where  they  gathered  children  who  had  been  ex- 
posed by  their  parents.  As  nearly  all  these  foundlings 
speedily  died,  there  was  a  foundation  for  the  report  that 
the  priests  and  sisters  were  kidnapping  children,  even  al- 
luring adults  to  the  mysterious  walled  enclosure  of  the 
orphanage,  and  there  killing  them  to  obtain  materials  for 
strange  medicines  and  powerful  charms.  No  Chinaman 
felt  safe.  The  city  judge  began  an  examination.  He  ar- 
rested a  servant  of  the  missionaries  and  tortured  him  till 
the  poor  wretch  testified  that  the  suspicions  of  the  people 
were  well  founded;  that  he  had  himself  been  compelled 
by  magical  means  to  entice  men  into  the  power  of  the  mis- 
sionaries. The  missionaries  were  called  to  an  account. 
They  invited  the  officers  to  inspect  the  buildings.     While 


27  The  term  in  this  rescript  strictly  included  only^Catholics.  Hon. 
J.  B.  Angell,  U.  S.  Minister  in  1881,  secured  the^formal  recognition 
of  Protestants.    Diplomatic  Correspondence,  1885,  p.  163. 

28  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  1861,  p.  50. 
2»  Idem  1865  H,  p.  47. 


The  Modern  Period  31 

the  officers,  with  much  personal  terror,  were  making  their 
examination,  the  French  consul  appeared  in  the  crowd. 
The  Chinese  say  that  he  discharged  a  pistol  at  an  officer. 
The  French  say  that  he  was  struck  by  a  sword  and  fired  to 
defend  his  life.  In  any  case,  the  mob  went  wild.  The 
authorities  were  powerless  and  sixteen  French  priests  and 
sisters  with  their  native  assistants,  were  most  horribly  put 
to  death.  Three  Kussians  were  also  victims.  The  build- 
ings of  one  Protestant  mission  were  damaged.  ^^ 

The  people  rejoiced  at  the  fate  of  [the  foreign  devils. 
The  Grovernment,  none  too  firmly  seated  in  the  last  cen- 
tury, hesitated  to  punish  the  popular  criminals.  But  at 
last  it  was  compelled  by  the  treaty  nations  to  act.  The 
city  officers  were  banitrhed,  eighteen  of  the  leaders  of  the 
mob  were  executed  and  a  money  indemnity  was  paid.  ^^ 

The  whole  story  is  a  horrible  one,  but  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  it  can  be  paralleled  in  some  features  by 
accounts  of  Christian  attacks  on  Jews  not  many  years  ago 
in  Europe.  The  affair  made  a  deep  impression  on  the 
imperial  government.  Shortly  afterwards.  Prince  Wan- 
Sing  addressed  a  note  to  the  powers  which  bears  evident 
marks  of  sincerity.  He  spoke  of  the  "daily  anxiety"  that 
mission  problems  gave  the  Chinese  Ministers  and  pro- 
posed eight  rules  for  regulating  mission  work.  The  sig- 
nificant ones  were  these:  Only  Christian  children  should 
be  taken  by  Catholic  orphanages;  priests  should  not  wear 
the  costume  of  Chinese  officials;  missionaries  should  not 
be  allowed  to  wander  over  the  country  without  some  pass- 
port by  which  they  could  be  traced;  Catholics  should  not 
make  unreasonable  claims  to  land  on  the  plea  that  it  was 

30  The  dispatches  which  passed  between  China  and  the  treaty 
nations  may  be  seen  in  the  Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  the  United 
States,  1871,  II,  pp.  69-194,  and  in  the  corresponding  blue  books  of 
England  and  France. 

31  A  report  prevailed  among  Europeans  that  the  real  offenders 
were  released  and  rewarded,  while  other  criminals  were  executed  in 
their  place.  There  is  no  foundation  for  this  report.  See  the  corre- 
spondence. 


32  Christian  Missions  in  China 

the  site  of  an  ancient  church.  ^^  Wan-Sing  contended  that 
it  was  the  violation  of  one  of  these  rules  which  most  fre- 
quently angered  the  people  and  caused  anti-mission  riots, 
and  one  who  reads  the  whole  history  feels  with  Minister 
Low  that  the  Chinese  did  have  "some  just  grounds  for 
complaint."  ^^  There  was  some  correspondence  over  Wan- 
Sing's  proposition  but  no  formal  action.  There  were  two 
results :  First,  the  French  Minister  announced  that  Catho- 
lics would  not  be  permitted  to  enter  further  claims  for 
recovering  real  estate.  Second,  foreign  missionaries  have 
been  a  little  more  particular  about  passports. 

A  little  later  than  the  Tien-tsing  massacre  all  South 
China  was  disturbed  by  reports  that  Protestant  missiona- 
ries were  poisoning  the  wells.  ^*  When  the  Chinese  gov- 
ernment during  the  troubles  with  France  in  1883,  offered 
rewards  for  the  heads  of  Frenchmen,  mobs,  thinking  that 
all  foreigners  belonged  to  the  same  nation  and  that  the 
missionaries  were  emissaries  of  France,  burnt  twenty-three 
Catholic  and  eighteen  Protestant  chapels  in  Canton  prov- 
ince ^^  and  fell  upon  the  native  Christians.  Miss  Gordon 
Cummings  thinks  that  thirty-five  thousand  native  Chris- 
tians were  massacred.  The  Pope  sent  a  legate  to  China 
and  disclaimed  any  political  connection  between  the 
church  and  France  and  then  in  1886  the  emperor  issued 
an  edict  commanding  all  Chinamen  to  live  at  peace  with 
each  other  whether  they  were  Confucianists  or  Christians, 
as  they  all  were  alike  his  subjects. ^^ 

In  1891,  after  a  period  of  comparative  quiet,  anti-Chris- 


»2  The  United  States  translation  of  the  note  reads  "Roman 
Catholic."  The  French  translation,  and  accordingly  the  English 
which  was  made  from  the  French,  reads  "Christian,"  in  referring 
to  the  offenders.  U.  S.  Correspondence,  1871-2,  pp.  102,  158.  Some 
of  the  references  evidently  have  no  application  to  Protestants. 

33  Correspondence,  1871-2,  p.  98. 

3*  Fifty  years  in  Amoy,  p.  152. 

35  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  1885,  p.  163. 

36  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  1886,  p.  74.  Cf .  Foster's  Christian 
Progress  in  China,  pp.  25-26. 


The  Modern  Period  33 

tian  riots  broke  out  everywhere.  At  this  time  Chinese 
were  being  mobbed  and  killed  in  the  United  States, 
and  this  fact  was  employed  to  stir  up  mobs  in 
China.  The  situation  grew  so  serious  that  the 
ministers  of  the  foreign  governments  united  in  a  very 
strong  note  to  the  Board  of  Rites.  The  Board  memorial- 
ized the  emperor,  as  is  the  Chinese  procedure  when 
any  matter  is  to  be  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
sovereign,  and  the  emperor  issued  a  second  edict.  Minis- 
ter Denby  says  that  this  edict  together  with  the  memorial 
is  the  most  important  state  paper  ever  issued  in  China. 
It  may  prove  to  be  the  Magna  Charta  of  Chinese  Chris- 
tianity. The  memorial  reads:  "  The  religion  of  the  West 
seems  to  have  fcr  its  main  purpose  the  teaching  of  men  to 
live  uprightly.  In  the  calamities  of  recent  years  the  mis- 
sionaries have  in  large  number  subscribed  money.  They 
are  deserving  of  praise  for  their  charitable  works." 

The  edict  says:  "  The  doctrine  of  Christianity  has  for 
its  purpose  the  teaching  of  men  to  be  good.  Chinese  con- 
verts are  still  subjects  of  China  and  amenable  to  the  local 
authorities.  It  is  evident  that  there  are  powerful  outlaws 
whose  object  is  to  fan  discontent  by  circulating  false  ru- 
mors that  they  may  have  an  opportunity  to  rob.  Let  the 
governors  of  Liang  Kiang,  Hu  Kwang,  Kiang-su  and  Hu- 
peh  cause  the  arrest  of  the  leaders,  try  them  and  inflict 
capital  punishment."  ^^ 

In  1894,  at  the  beginning  of  the  late  war  with  Japan,  the 
Chinese  government  sent  a  note  to  the  ministers  of  the 
western  nations,  promising  the  utmost  efforts  to  protect 
the  missionaries  and  urging  that  they  rv  main  at  their  posts. 
The  emperor  issued  a  proclamation  explaining  to  his  igno- 
rant people  that  the  western  nations  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  war.  He  warned  his  subjects  to  let  the  foreigners 
alone,  and  declared  that  the  missi«.nary  operations  were 


87  U.  S.  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  1886,  p.  74.    1891,  pp.  411- 
425. 


34  Christian  Missions  in  China 

under  his  protection.''®  These  recent  acts  show  clearly  the 
attitude  which  the  Chinese  government,  for  one  reason  or 
another,  has  taken  towards  Christianity.  Unhappily  the 
government  has  not  been  able  to  protect  the  missionaries. 
The  Rev.  James  Wylie  was  murdered  in  Manchuria  (not 
in  China  proper)  in  1894  by  undisciplined  soldiers,  though 
the  local  officers  did  their  best  to  protect  him.*® 

There  have  been  anti-mission  riots  in  Si-Chuen  and 
elsewhere.  August  1,  1895,  a  mob  in  Fu-Kian  province 
massacred  nine  Protestant  missionaries  and  a  child. 
All  of  these  were  British  subjects,  and  England  has  ex- 
acted a  stern  retribution.  Twenty-six  of  the  mob  have 
been  executed  and  sixty-six  more  have  been  banished  or 
imprisoned  for  life  or  a  term  of  years.  *^  The  American, 
French,  and  German  governments  have  received  a  money 
indemnity  for  recent  attacks  made  on  their  missionary 
citizens. 

The  French  Minister,  M.  Gerard,  took  advantage  of  the 
situation  and  obtained  from  the  Board  of  Rites  an  order 
directing  the  local  authorities  in  all  the  provinces  to  ex- 
punge from  the  Chinese  code  all  laws  placing  restrictions 
on  the  propagation  of  the  Christian  religion.*^ 

Only  two  legal  questions  remain  unsettled  between  the 
missionaries  and  China.  First,  treaties  have  given  mis- 
sionaries the  right  to  travel  through  the  interior,  but  have 
not  provided  for  permanent  residence.  China  tolerates 
mission  stations  in  the  interior  where  merchants  are  not 
allowed  for  a  moment,  but,  in  case  of  any  trouble,  claims 
that  the  missionaries  are  exceeding  their  treaty  rights. 
Thus,  when  two  Swedish  missionaries  were  murdered  in 
Sung-Pu  in  1893,  China  contended  that  the  men 
were   responsible    for    their    own    deaths    because    they 

38  See  the  daily  papers  of  Oct.  14-16,  1894.  Chinese  Recorder, 
Dec.  1894,  p.  611;  July,  1895,  p.  539. 

3»  Edinburg  Missionary  Record,  Sept.  and  Nov.,  1894. 

*o  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  from  Oct.,  1895  to  April,  1896. 
See  also  the  English  Blue-books. 

4^1  Missionary  Review,  Feb.  1896, 


The  Modern  Period  35 

had  persisted  in  remaining  in  a  dangerous  locality  after 
they  had  been  repeatedly  and  officially  warned  to  de- 
part. The  Swedish  Consul  acquiesced  in  this  apparently 
reasonable  plea.  On  the  other  hand  the  foreign  residents 
were  furious  over  the  contention.  The  remaining  foreign 
consuls  united  in  a  peremptory  demand  for  the  "exem- 
plary punishment  of  all  officials  high  or  low  who  had 
failed  to  obey  the  edict  of  1891,  and  who,  by  their  culpa- 
ble negligence,  permitted  this  atrocious  crime.  "*^  The 
edict  of  1891,  however,  gave  no  permission  to  foreigners  to 
settle  in  the  interior.  The  position  of  the  United  States 
seems  the  correct  one.  That  is,  a  missionary  has  no  r  ght 
to  settle  in  an  interior  town  against  the  wishes  of  the  in- 
habitants, but  if  he  is  once  allowed  to  buy  land  and  erect 
buildings,  he  can  not  then  be  ejected.*^ 

The  second  legal  question  concerns  the  claim  that  China 
permits  the  posting  of  inflammatory  placards  which  pro- 
voke attacks  upon  the  Christians.  In  1895  the  missiona- 
ries presented  a  petition  to  the  Board  of  Rites,  asking 
that  the  legal  privilege  of  settling  in  the  interior  be 
granted  to  missionaries,  and  that  the  placards  be  sup- 
pressed. The  Board  replied  that  the  requests  were  rea- 
sonable. It  is  the  impression  that  the  emperor  favors  the 
request.     No  formal  answer  has  yet  been  returned.  ** 

The  missionaries  charge  that  the  government  is  some- 
times disingenuous.  They  say  that  officers  who  have 
repressed  anti-foreign  riots  have  been  secretly  punished, 
aad  that  officers  who  have  permitted  them  have  enjoyed 
the  imperial  favor.  It  seems  to  be  proven  that  in  several 
cases  the  real  rioters  have  been  left  unpunished  and  Chris- 
tian natives  have  been  killed  as  the  guilty  parties.  ^^ 
Politic  devices  which  are  highly  exasperating  to  the  out- 

42  Correspondence,  of  the  Japan  Mail,  Aug.  12,  Sept.  2,  9,  30, 
1893;  Feb.  10,  April  4,  1894. 

*3  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  1886,  p.  96. 

4*  Chinese  Recorder,  March,  April,  July,  1895,  pp.  106,  539. 

*5  Douglass,  Society  in  China,  pp.  269,  281,  285.  Rev.  Henry 
Kingman  in  the  "  Congregationalist,"  Jan.  25,  1894. 


36  Christian  Missions  in  China 

side  barbarian  have  sometimes  been  employed  by  the 
"child  like  and  bland"  officials.  When  the  English  mis- 
sion at  Foochow  was  destroyed  in  1878,  the  polite  manda- 
rin sent  soldiers  to  quell  the  mob,  but  they  came  without 
arms  or  officers.  When  the  American  consul  protested,  a 
fresh  detachment  cheerfully  appeared  upon  the  scene  with 
muskets  but  no  ammunition.  *^ 

All  these  charges  seem  true.  Nevertheless,  as  one  reads 
the  records  year  by  year,  and  remembers  the  strains  to 
which  the  government  has  been  subjected,  he  is  forced  to 
the  conclusion  that  China  has  done  all  that  can  fairly  be 
expected  from  it  to  protect  the  Christians. 

It  is  useless  to  expect  from  China  the  responsibility  of 
a  western  nation.  *'^  Its  system  of  government  is  not  com- 
pact. The  very  conception  of  law  is  different  in  the  ori- 
ent. It  is  quite  in  keeping  with  oriental  law  that  a 
Christian  should  be  punished  for  an  anti-mission  riot.  If 
the  immediate  criminal  is  not  at  hand  in  the  east,  his  rela- 
tives may  be  punished  instead,  or  some  one  who  was  a  re- 
mote cause  of  the  disturbance.  Judgments  are  given  on 
this  principle  in  China  in  other  difficulties. 

Finally,  however  much  the  imperial  government  may 
wish  to  punish  a  criminal,  the  critical  condition  of  the 
dynasty  these  last  years  may  cause  officers  to  hesitate  be- 
fore attacking  a  powerful  noble  or  antagonizing  public 
feeling.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  the  liots  of  1891 
were  deliberately  started  by  the  secret  societies  for  the 
very  purpose  of  involving  the  government  in  difficulties 
with  foreign  powers  so  that  opportunity  would  be  afforded 
for  a  revolution.  The  government  recognizes  its  condition. 
Many  observers  believe  that  the  emperor  is  sincerely  glad 
of  the  presence  of  foreigners  because  of  the  support  they 
give  to  the  existing  order.  Rev.  Gilbert  Reed  expresses 
the  almost  unanimous  feeling  of  the  missionaries  when  he 

^«  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  1879,  p.  183. 

*7  The  United  States  Government  has  not  always  found  it  easy  to 
punish  offences  against  foreigners. 


The  Modern  Period  37 

says:      "The  government  is    friendly  both  to  foreigners 
and  to  missionaries." 

The  trouble  has  not  been  with  the  emperor  or  the  people 
even,  but  primarily  with  the  influential  mandarins  who 
shape  public  opinion,  the  jealous  nobles,  and  the  literati, 
who  are  really  ignorant  because  of  their  useless  and  fos- 
silized learning.  The  missionaries  are  indebted  to  many 
individuals  of  the  higher  classes  for  courteous  treatment, 
but  as  a  class  the  mandarins  are  practical  politicians. 
They  are  the  gentlemen  who  offer  to  starving  men  bread 
so  filled  with  rubbish  that  it  is  un-eatable,  who  heap  up 
cannon  balls  of  clay  painted  black  and  put  the  money  ap- 
propriated for  famine  relief  or  for  the  equipment  of  a  navy 
yard  into  their  own  pockets.  Corrupt  beyond  belief,  these 
officials  are  the  enemies  of  the  missionaries  and  of  all 
Europeans. 

The  missionaries  assert  that  the  common  people  would 
usually  be  peaceable  if  they  were  let  alone.  They  have,  of 
course,  the  same  racial  feeling  against  occidentals  as  occi- 
dentals have  against  Chinese.  They  are  ignorant  and 
superstitious.  Occasionally  an  anti-Christian  riot  springs 
up  suddenly  from  some  accidental  cause,  *^  but  generally 
it  is  deliberately  planned  by  interested  parties.  Indecent 
pictures  and  placards  are  scattered  through  a  whole  region 
and  rouse  the  wrath  of  the  people  against  the  missionaries, 
the  foreign  devils.*®  In  the  Hunan  riots  of  1892  a  man- 
darin posted  the  placards  over  his  official  seal.  ^^     The  ex- 


*8  U.  S.  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  1866,  I,  485;  1876,  54;  1885, 
148.  Correspondence  of  the  Japanese  Mail,  Aug.  12,  1893;  Feb.  10, 
1894. 

*»  Douglass,  Society  in  China,  p.  282.  A  copy  of  the  most  famous 
of  the  placards,  "Death  Blow  to  Corrupt  Doctrines, "  is  in  the  library 
of  Harvard  University.  Translations  of  some  of  the  more  decent 
placards  are  given  in  the  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  1892,  p.  126. 

50  China  claimed  that  the  officer  was  insane.  The  claim  is  not 
impossible.  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  1892,  p.  115.  The  mis- 
sionaries do  not  think  that  he  was.  Douglass,  Society  in  China,  p. 
285. 


38  Christian  Missions  in  China 

citement  grows  till  not  only  the  ignorant  believe  the 
stories  but  many  of  the  most  intelligent  people.  At  length 
the  outbreak  comes. 

Sometimes  the  riots  are  anti-Christian.  Much  more  fre- 
quently they  are  anti-foreign.  The  missions  suffer  be- 
cause they  are  the  exposed  points,  and  the  attacks  upon 
them  indicate  a  racial  hatred  rather  than  religious  opposi- 
tion. Districts  and  periods  hostile  to  missionaries  are 
hostile  to  all  foreigners.  Foreign  consuls  have  been  re- 
peatedly stoned. ^^     It  is  a  point   sometimes   overlooked, 

51  The  British  Consul  was  stoned  at  Ichang,  Dec.  15,  1895. 
but  of  much  importance,  that  riots  in  China  against  Chris- 
tians no  more  indicate  the  feelings  of  the  whole  mass  of 
people  than  do  riots  in  any  other  country.  They  are  the 
work  of  lawless  and  irresponsible  agitators.  In  every  re- 
cent attack  upon  a  missionary,  some  Chinese  have  de- 
fended him  at  the  risk  of  their  own  lives. 

In  spite  of  the  many  disturbances,  the*actual  loss  of  life 
and  property  has  been  surprisingly  small.  Because  of 
their  supposed  connection  with  the  French  government, 
and  because  of  their  former  persistence  in  reclaiming  an- 
cient church  sites,  Catholics  have,  perhaps,  suffered  more 
than  Protestants.  China  has  paid  for  the  property  which 
has  been  destroyed.  It  is  believed  that  in  the  whole  nine- 
teenth century  less  than  sixty  missionaries  have  been 
killed.  Two-thirds  of  these  have  been  Catholics.  Three 
werj  executed  by  the  courts  and  six  more  were  murdered 
prior  to  1844.  Sixteen  were  killed  at  Tientsing,  and  at 
least  six  others  have  perished.  Only  eighteen  Protestant 
missionaries  are  known  to  have  been  murdered. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


The  Missionaries  Themselves. — Distribution  of  the 

Bible. 

The  services  of  the  early  Catholics  have  already  been 
indicated.  The  first  gift  of  Proteetantism  to  China  was 
the  Bible.  The  translations  made  by  Marshman  and  Mor- 
rison have  been  mentioned.  These  men  were  pioneers 
through  the  wilderness  of  Chinese  speech,  and  their  work 
had  the  faults  of  pioneer  translations.  Moreover  the 
books  were  too  cumbersome  and  expensive.  Morrison's 
printed  Bible  required  twenty-one  volumes.  In  1850  the 
"  Delegates  "  or  first  authorized  version  was  completed  by 
a  committee  of  the  missionaries.^  The  members  of  the 
committee  were  unable  to  agree  on  a  term  for  Deity  and 
the  space  was  left  blank.  Several  other  translations  have 
been  distributed  by  the  various  societies.  Recently  an- 
other general  committee  has  been  formed,  and  it  is  ex- 
pected that  a  revised  version  will  shortly  appear  and  be 
used  as  the  literary  version.  Besides  the  literary  versions, 
translations  exist  in  nearly  all  the  dialects. 

At  first  it  was  attempted  to  distribute  the  Bible  by  free 
gift.  The  Chinese  were  suspicious,  and  slow  to  receive 
the  magic  book  which  the  foreigner  offered  to  them. 
Many  amusing  stories  are  told  of  the  first  years  of  Bible 
distribution.  One  agent  had  been  wondering  what  be- 
came of  all  the  Bibles  he  distributed.  He  strayed  into  a 
temple  and  found  that  his  precious  books  had  been  gath- 
ered up  and  burned  as  a  sweet  smelling  savor  to  the  god 
of  printed  paper.^ 

1  Records  of  the  Bible  Society  of  Scotland,  March,  1883,  p.  339. 

2  Records  of  the  Shanghai  Conference,  1887,  p.  59. 


40  Christian  Missions  in  China 

In  1860  the  policy  of  selling  the  Bibles  was  adopted.^ 
The  circulation  at  once  increased  ten-fold  and  the  books 
were  henceforth  preserved.  As  soon  as  the  land  was 
opened  agents  of  the  Bible  societies  went  through  it  sell- 
ing the  books.  The  explorers  of  the  Inland  Mission  dis- 
tributed Bibles.  One  man  sold  j&ve  thousand  copies  in 
fifty  days  in  north  China,  another  sold  thirty-three 
thousand  copies  in  a  year  through  the  southern  prov- 
inces.* 

There  have  been  even  among  Protestants  some  grave 
questionings  as  to  the  wisdom  of  distributing  the  Bible  pro- 
miscuously. Portions  are  liable  to  be  misunderstood  by 
the  Chinese.  Dr.  Nevius  feared  that  the  distribution 
might  really  hinder  Christianity,  but  the  great  body  of 
Protestant  missionaries  is  solidly  on  the  other  side. 
Christians  are  frequently  found  who  have  been  converted 
by  the  Bible  alone. 

One  great  objection  to  the  distribution  has  been  that 
the  text  printed  as  the  rules  of  the  Bible  societies  required 
"without  note  or  comment"  was  unintelligible  to  the 
Chinese.  This  objection  has  now  been  removed  by  the 
publication  of  the  gospels  with  simple  explanatory  notes.^ 

The  Bible  is  beginning  to  be  known.  The  demand  for 
it  steadily  increases.  1894  was  a  famine  year.  The  work 
of  one  of  the  three  Bible  societies  was  interrupted  by  the 
death  of  its  manager,  nevertheless  seven  hundred  and 
twenty- three  thousand  Bibles  and  parts  of  Bibles  were  sold 
by  the  three  societies  alone^  — a  gain  of  more  than  eighty- 
eight  thousand  copies  over  the  preceding  year.  By  official 
permission  the  missionaries  present  each  scholar  taking 
the  state  examinations  with  a  portion  of  Scripture.  Twenty 


8  Brief  account  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  in  China, 
p.  11. 

*  Shanghai  Conference,  1890,  p.  116. 
5  Report  of  the  Bible  Society  of  Scotland,  1893-4. 
«  From  the  Annual  Reports  of  the  American,  British,  and  Scotch 
Societies. 


Phases  of  Missionary  Work  41 

thousand  scholars  are   thus  reached  at   a  single   exami- 
nation.'^ 

In  November,  1894  the  Christian  women  of  China  pre- 
sented the  Empress  Dowager  with  a  New  Testament  costing 
over  twelve  hundred  dollars.  The  presentation  was  made 
through  the  English  and  American  ministers.  Two  days 
later  an  order  in  the  emperor's  own  writing  came  for  a 
complete  Bible.  The  presentation  aroused  much  interest 
among  the  nobility,  and  it  is  expected  that  the  Bible  will 
attract  an  increased  interest.* 

MEDICINE. 

The  second  great  benefit  conferred  by  Christianity  on 
China  is  medicine.  The  early  Jesuits  had  given  simple 
remedies,  but  the  proper  history  of  medicine  in  China  be- 
gan in  1828,  when  Dr.  CoUedge,  the  Christian  surgeon  of 
the  East  India  company,  opened  a  hospital  in  Canton. 
Dr.  Colledge  believed  that  Christians  had  a  duty  to  the 
sick  in  China.  He  corresponded  with  the  mission  socie- 
ties and,  in  1834,  Dr.  Peter  Parker  opened  a  hospital  at 
Canton  in  connection  with  the  mission  of  the  American 
Board.  In  1835-36  the  two  physicians  and  a  few  Christian 
residents  formed  the  "Medical  Society  of  China".  In  a 
little  time  the  news  of  Dr.  Parker's  mission  spread.  Pub- 
lic preaching  was  not  then  permitted  and  foreigners  were 
hated.  But  this  work  appealed  to  a  common  humanity. 
In  an  oriental  town  respectable  women  would  sit  all 
night  in  the  streets  in  order  to  get  a  chance  in  the  line  of 
patients  which  would  crowd  upon  the  doctor  the  next 
morning.  ®  When  the  opium  war  closed  his  hospital  in 
1840,  nine  thousand  severe  cases  had  been  relieved  besides 
any  number  of  minor  ones.  Canton  had  a  welcome  for 
Parker  as  soon  as  the  treaty  was  signed.  "He  had  opened 
China  at  the  point  of  his  lancet."     In  1839   there   were 


7  Briti3h  Bible  Society  Reporter,  Feb.  1883. 

8  Record  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  Jan.  17,  1895. 
»  Lockhart's  Medical  Missions  in  China,  122-123. 


42  Christian  Missions  in  China 

only  two  missionary  physicians  in  China,  The  call  was 
so  loud  that  Christians  began  in  1842  to  send  more . 

It  is  impossible  to  continue  the  wonderful  story  at 
length,  to  tell  how  the  work  grew,  and  how  female  doctors 
have  in  later  years  carried  help  to  helpless  women.  Sev- 
eral of  the  hospitals  are  endowed  by  private  philanthropy. 
In  1892  there  were  in  connection  with  the  missions  sixty- 
one  hospitals  and  forty-four  dispensaries,  ^**  one  hundred 
male  and  twenty-six  female  physicians  ^^  with  a  corps  of 
trained  native  assistants.  The  Chinese  have  no  knowledge 
of  surgery  and  tne  demand  for  surgical  treatment  is  far 
beyond  the  capacity  of  the  mission  hospitals.  From 
the  annual  reports  of  the  hospitals,  it  may  be  estimated 
that  they  treat  annually  not  ^^  fewer  than  five  hundred 
thousand  individuals  and  perform  about  seventy  thousand 
operations,  of  which  about  eight  thousand  are  of  the 
gravest  kind.  The  Chinese  have  learned  to  have  utmost 
confidence  in  the  surgeons,  and  submit  calmly  to  the  se- 
verest operations.  The  patient's  relatives  are  consulted, 
and  usually  there  is  no  resentment  expressed  if  a  danger- 
ous operation  fails. 

The  motive  which  brings  physicians  to  hard  work  in  a 
missionary  hospital  is  a  continuous  puzzle  to  Chinamen. 
"  Of  the  earth  earthy  they  cannot  understand  unselfish- 
ness." ^^  But  the  patients,  who  have  been  treated  with  a 
gentleness  and  skill  which  seem  to  them  miraculous,  feel 
that  the  religion  which  inspires  such  work  must  be  good. 
A  few  show  no  gratitude,  thinking  that  they  have  rendered 
a  service  in  allowing  the  foreigner  to  treat  them .  ^*  Many 
have  no  impulse  to  accept  the  religion  of  their  doctors, 
but  some  do.  "  More  members  are  received  by  the  Lon- 
don Church  Mission  at  Tien-tsing  from  the  Makenzie  hos- 


10  Fifty  years  in  Amoy,  p.  14. 

51  The  Medical  Missionary  Record,  Sept.  1892,  gives  a  full  list. 

12  348,  339,  patients  in  1889. 

13  Dr.  Graves. 

1*  Medical  Missionary  Record.  Nov.  1894. 


Phases  of  Missionary  Work  43 

pital  than  from  all  other  sources  combined."^''  Many 
patients  become  Christians  after  they  go  to  their  distant 
homes.  In  1884,  missionaries  were  violently  expelled  from 
Kwai  Peng.  A  lady  physician  went  to  the  place,  and  the 
result  was  that  in  1893  there  were  two  organized  churches 
in  the  place.  ^* 

A  medical  literature  is  being  provided,  and  native 
physicians  are  trained.  ^'^  This  medical  work  is  one  of  the 
points  in  which  the  missionaries  and  the  nobles  harmo- 
nize. A  hospital  for  men  in  Tien-tsing  and  another  one 
for  women  mark  the  gratitude  of  China's  ablest  statesman 
for  the  cure  of  Lady  Li  Hung  Chang  by  a  medical  mis- 
sionary. Viceroy  Chang  Chi-tung,  one  of  the  bitterest 
opponents  of  Christianity,  who  was  governor  at  Canton  in 
1884  and  at  Hu-Kwang  in  1891  and  who  favored  the  riot- 
ing in  each  place,  as  the  missionaries  believe,  in  1895  sent 
a  contribution  of  a  thousand  taels  to  a  mission  hospital. 
In  the  various  wars  missionaries  have  accompanied  the 
Chinese  armies  as  surgeons  and  nurses.  Lately  a  medical 
missionary,  Dr.  W.  J.  Hall,  died  worn  out  by  his  exer- 
tions on  the  battle  field  of  Pyong  Yang.  ^® 

There  are  peculiar  difficulties  even  in  this  beneficent  work. 
If  physicians  are  mobbed  in  Europe  during  cholera  epidem- 
ics, we  can  fancy  the  dangers  of  Chinese  superstition.  In 
times  of  trouble  stories  are  circulated  that  the  doctors  pluck 
out  human  eyes  to  make  charms.  Dr.  Greig,  for  whom 
grateful  Chinese  patients  had  built  a  dispensary,  was 
mobbed  for  some  surgical  work.  ^^  When  the  plague  broke 
out  in  Canton  and  Hong  Koog  in  the  summer  of  1894,  the 
report  was  started  that  foreign  doctors  were  killing  the  peo- 
ple by  scattering  scent- bags,  one  whiff  of  which  would 


15  Lawrence,  Missions  in  the  far  East,  p,  186,  7. 

16  Medical  Missionary  Record,  Nov.  1894. 
1''^  Medical  Missionary  Record,  Nov.  1894. 

18  Medical  Missionary  Record,  Jan.  1895.  N.  Y.  Herald,  Nov.  7-10 
1894. 

19  Michie,  Missionaries  in  China,  VII. 


44  Christian  Missions  in  China 

cause  death,  ^^  and  a  general  uprising  was  planned  to  kill 
the  foreigners.  Miss  Dr.  Halverson  was  stoned  nearly  to 
death  on  the  streets  near  Hong  Kong,  before  the  police 
could  rescue  her.  ^^  Doubtless  similar  riots  will  occur 
again,  both  in  China  and  in  western  nations,  but  such  out- 
breaks have  no  significance  as  indicating  a  feeling  against 
Christianity. 

EDUCATION. 

The  Chinese  regard  themselves  as  a  learned  people,  but 
they  know  little  or  nothing  which  Confucius  did  not 
teach.  They  have  no  conception  of  science,  history,  or 
geography.     Such  is  the  condition  of  the  learned  literati. 

iBelow  them  are  the  common  people.  Out  of  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  millions  it  is  said  that  not  over  fifteen  mil- 
lions and  perhaps  not  more  than  ten  millions,  can  read.^^ 

From  the  advent  of  the  Jesuits,  the  missionaries  have 
had  their  schools,  which  are  now  scattered  over  China  by 
the  thousands.  To  enable  their  pupils  to  compete  with 
the  native  scholars,  these  schools  teach  the  sacred  book  • 
of  China,  but  they  teach  also  the  natural  sciences,  geog- 
raphy, and  practical  mathematics.      The  ordinary  station 

10  Foreign  Mission  Journals  for  Oct.  and  Nov.  1894. 

21  Woman's  Work  in  the  Far  East,  Nov.  1894.    Shanghai. 

22  Chinese  Characteristics,  p.  386.  The  full  course  in  the  Basel 
Mission  School  sj^stem  covers  fifteen  years;  seven  years  in  the  first 
grade;  four  years  in  the  second  grade,  which  corresponds  to  our 
smaller  colleges;  and  three  years  more,  for  theological  students.  In 
1886  this  mission  had  231  pupils,  who  paid  $950  annually  towards 
the  total  cost  of  the  schools  ($2,852).  Chinese  Recorder  March,  1887, 
p.  86.  The  course  in  the  Reformed  Church  Schools  is  shown  in  "Fifty 
Years  in  Amoy."  The  Episcopalians,  Jesuits,  and  Methodists  all 
have  high  grade  schools  and  colleges  at  Shanghai;  the  Presbyterians 
at  Tengchow  and  Canton;  the  Methodists  at  Peking  and  Canton. 
Other  high  grade  schools  are  at  Hong  Kong,  Chefoo,  Wuchang,  etc. 
See  Foster's  Christian  Progress  in  China;  Records  of  the  meetings 
of  the  Education  Society  of  China;  especially  Freyer'a  Educational 
Directory  of  China,  Shanghai  1896.  The  school  at  Tung  Cho,  re- 
ceives the  profit  of  Dr.  S.  Wells  Williams'  Chinese  dictionary,  a 
gift  amounting  thus  far  to  over  $17,000. 


Phases  of  Missionary  Work  45 

schools  are  very  simple;  but  there  are  a  score  of  high  grade 
academies,  colleges,  and  theological  seminaries,  which 
rank  with  good  European  and  American  schools.  The 
inevitable  result  is  that  the  graduates  of  high  grade  mis- 
sion schools  have  a  better  working  education  than  the 
literati,  who  consequently  are  jealous  and  angry.  They 
combine  to  keep  mission  graduates  and  the  few  Chinese 
who  have  been  educated  in  the  west  out  of  political  or  in- 
fluential places.  Thus  far,  to  the  loss  of  China,  they  have 
succeeded,  but  there  is  only  one  end  to  such  bad  policy. 

The  mission  schools  have  now  re-acted  on  Chinese  ideas. 
In  1887  for  the  first  time  in  all  the  centuries,  Mathematics, 
International  Law,  History,  and  Military  Tactics  were  in- 
cluded in  the  literary  examinations.**  This  is  an  event 
more  epoch  making  perhaps,  than  the  Japanese  war.  In 
1867,  the  Imperial  College  was  opened  at  Peking  and  an 
American  missionary  placed  at  its  head.  A  missionary  is 
tutor  to  Li  Hung  Chang's  sons.  A  missionary,  Dr.  Wil- 
liams, has  repeated  the  earlier  achievement  of  Morrison 
and  made  the  universal  Chinese  dictionary.  A  missionary, 
Dr.  Legge,  who  has  communicated  part  of  his  literary 
labors  to  English  readers,  is  now  the  great  foreign  authority 
on  the  sacred  books  of  China.  Even  more  important  than 
these  is  the  work  which  the  missionaries  have  done 
in  translating  and  writing  text  books  for  the  Chinese  in 
Mathematics,  Civil  Government,  History,  Physiology, 
Physics,  Geography.     The  entire  field  has  been  covered.** 

33  Foster's  Christian  Progress  in  China,  "Education." 
2*  The  Shanghai  press  publishes  over  eleven  hundred  text  books. 
This  is  the  most  important  Protestant  Press  in  China.  Each  of 
the  other  Missionary  printing  establishments  puts  out  text  books. 
Of  Protestant  writings,  Alex.  Wylie  of  Shanghai,  and  the  catalogue 
of  the  Shanghai  Press  give  the  beat  lists.  Brief  bibliographies  may 
be  found  in  the  Chinese  Recorder,  for  June,  1894,  and  in  the  appen- 
dix to  Martin's  Chinese  Education.  The  Catholic  Publication 
Agency  is  also  at  Shanghai,  and  issues  catalogues.  Cordier's  Bibli- 
otheca  Sinica,  Paris,  1878,  gives  prominence  to  Catholic  publi- 
cations. The  earlier  ones  are  described  in  Cordier's  Essai  d'une 
bibliographie  des  ouvrages  publies  en  Chine  par  les  Europeena  au 
17me.  et  18me.  Siecles,  Paris,  1883,  and  in  the  Laacher  Stimmen, 
Ergaenzungsheft  50,  Freyburg,  1841. 


46  Christian  Missions  in  China 

Mr.  Michie,  the  keenest  and  the  most  intelligent  critic  of 
mission  work  in  China,  thinks  that  the  distribution  of  the 
Bible  has  been  comparatively  barren  of  results,  but  adds: 
"  The  missionaries  have  the  credit  of  awakening  thought 
in  the  country,  and  their  great  industry  in  circulating  use- 
ful and  Christian  knowledge  in  the  vernacular  has  spread 
the  light  o!  western  civilization  far  and  wide  in  the  em- 
pire." ^^  This  is  the  second  point  of  agreement  between 
the  missionaries  and  the  better  members  of  the  higher  or- 
ders. Dr.  Hartwell  reports^*  that  the  viceroy  at  Wuchang 
has  just  contributed  $1,400  to  the  Society  for  the  Dissem- 
ination of  Christian  and  General  Knowledge.  By  the  es- 
pecial favor  of  the  mandarins,  agents  of  this  society  are 
allowed  to  attend  the  literary  examinations  and  present 
books  to  the  students.  Sixty  thousand  publications  were 
thus  presented  during  the  "Grace  examinations"  of  1893. 
Books  of  general  information,  Bibles,  and  Christian  writ- 
ings are  presented  together.  In  1894  a  copy  of  Dr.  Faber's 
five  volume  work  on  civilization,  was  given  each  of  the 
great  mandarins  of  the  empire.  ^^  But  it  is  from  the  mis- 
sion schools  themselves  that  the  most  momentous  influ- 
ences proceed. 

At  an  early  period  the  Catholics  introduced  industrial 
training  in  their  schools,  teaching  watch-making,  shoe- 
making,  tailoring,  ^^  sewing,  lace-making  and  housekeeping. 
The  Protestants  have  given  more  special  attention  to  these 
subjects  only  within  ten  years.  The  best  financial  returns 
come  from  those  industries  which  do  not  compete  with 
general  Chinese  labor.  Next  after  the  arts  of  comfortable 
living,  western  trades  have  been  taught,  thus  promoting 
in  China  wood-carving  ^®  and  metal  working,  and  introduc- 
ing the  manufacture  of  matches,  soaps,  candles,  the  use  of 


25  Missionaries  in  China,  p.  38. 

26  Missionary  Herald,  Jan.  1895. 

27  Report  of  Society,  Chinese  Recorder,  Dec.  1894. 

28  Lawrence,  Missions  in  Far  East,  p.  188. 

29  Records  of  Educational  Association,  p.  40, 


Phases  of  Missionary  Work  47 

sewing  machines,  and  other  simple  machinery.  The  con- 
ception that  manual  labor  is  not  a  disgrace  is  taught. 
Neatness,  punctuality  and  truthfulness  are  inculcated. 
An  old  student  was  heard  coaching  some  new  comers: 
"Now  remember  to  tell  the  truth  here;  we  always  tell  the 
truth  to  the  master."  ^^ 

The  male  graduates  of  the  mission  schools  naturally  find 
congenial  the  young  women  who  have  been  similarly 
trained;  homes  spring  up,  not  always  Christian,  but  well 
ordered,  intelligent,  and  friendly  to  western  people. 

WORK  FOR  THE  BLIND. 

The  care  given  to  the  blind  is  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing chapters  in  the  whole  story  of  Chinese  missions. 
William  Murray,  one  of  the  missionaries,  was  familiar 
with  the  Braille  alphabet  of  embossed  dots.  The  miser- 
able condition  of  the  blind  in  China  aroused  his  pity. 
He  would  gladly  have  embossed  the  Scriptures  for  their 
use,  but  the  nature  of  the  language  forbade.  He  pondered 
the  problem  long.  One  day  it  flashed  into  his  mind  that 
by  discarding  words  and  printing  sounds  and  "  tones  "  he 
could  represent  the  language  by  a  simple  kind  of  phonog- 
raphy. After  perfecting  his  system  he  took  a  blind  beg- 
gar from  the  street  who  within  six  weeks  was  able  not  only 
to  read  fluently,  but  to  write  better  than  many  Chinamen 
can  do  after  studying  the  ordinary  method  twenty  years.  ^^  ^^ 
Mr.  Murray  has  gone  on  adapting  his  system  to  various 
Chinese  dialects.  He  now  hopes  that  by  changing  the 
reading  of  special  symbols  one  kind  of  writing  will  do  for 
all.  *'     This  marvelous  benefaction  to  the  blind  is  becom- 


30  Ibid  33-38. 

81  "To  master  the  Chinese  language  requires  a  head  of  oak, 
nerves  of  steel,  a  constitution  of  iron,  and  the  age  of  Methuseleh." 
Lawrence,  "Missions  in  East."  p.  146. 

82  Work  for  the  Blind  in  China,  Miss  Gordon  Cummings,  Part  I. 
p.  19. 

83  Record  of  Triennial  Meeting  of  the  Education  Association  in 
China,    p.  62. 


48  Christian  Missions  in  China 

ing  widely  known.  Blind  people  of  all  ages  come  from 
great  distances  to  put  themselves  under  Mr.  Murray's 
teaching. 

Besides  the  purely  philanthropic  results,  this  discovery 
puts  a  great  power  into  the  hands  of  the  missionaries. 
Blind  readers  are  sent  out  to  street  corners  and  work 
shops  and  to  the  enclosures  of  the  women.  About  1888, 
Mr.  Murray  began  printing  his  system  in  ink  for  the  use 
of  the  sighted,  that  those  who  could  not  learn  to  read  in 
the  usual  way  may  have  the  same  advantage  as  the  blind- 
Improvements  move  slowly  in  China,  but,  for  far  reaching 
influence,  the  printing  of  Mr  Murray's  alphabet  for  the 
sighted  Chinese  will  prove  one  of  the  greatest  educational 
triumphs  of  our  generation.^*  Besides  Mr.  Murray's  sys- 
tem there  are  several  others  representing  the  language  by 
Roman  letters.  These  are  very  helpful  in  certain  sections 
and  contain  much  good  literature.  But  they  are  more  ex- 
pensive and  less  easily  learned  than  the  Murray  system. 
It  is  not  supposed  that  any  of  these  systems  will  take  the 
place  of  the  Chinese  symbols,  but  it  is  believed  that  they 
will  open  reading  and  writing  to  immense  classes  who  oth- 
erwise could  never  learn. 

The  services  of  the  missionaries  in  times  of  famine  in 
China  are  well  known,  and  have  received  recognition  of 
the  Chinese  government.  ^^  A  study  might  be  made  of 
the  incidental  services  which  the  missionaries  have  ren- 
dered. It  would  show  not  only  the  success,  but  also  the 
failures  of  various  experiments.  It  would  not  only  de- 
scribe how  Dr.  Nevius  gave  fruit  trees  to  China,  but  it 


3*  From  "Work  for  the  Blind  in  China."  Seyenth  Annual  Report 
of  the  mission  to  th«  Chinese  Blind,  1893,  and  Records  of  the  Edu- 
cation Association  for  China,  1893.  See  also  the  Chinese  Recorder, 
June,  1894. 

35  See  letter  addressed  by  the  Chinese  Minister  in  London  to  Lord 
Salisbury  conveying  thanks  to  the  British  people  and  especially  to 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.    Williams  Middle  Kingdom,  ii,  737. 


Phases  of  Missionary  Work  49 

would  explain  why  good  farming  tools  can  not  be  intro- 
duced. ^^ 

It  is  now  necessary  to  turn  from  practical  works  to  the 
workers.  The  most  evident  line  of  demarkation  between 
them  is  that  which  runs  between  the  Catholics  and  the 
Protestants.  Missionaries  of  one  creed  respect  the  per- 
sonality and  devotion  of  missionaries  of  the  other.  As  in- 
dividuals they  render  each  other  kindly  services,  but 
their  religious  conceptions  are  so  opposite  that  there  is 
little  sympathy  in  their  work.  The  Protestant  distributes 
Bibles;  the  Catholic  opposes  this  policy;  the  Catholic  runs 
all  risks  to  baptize  an  infant,  believing  that  a  drop  of 
water  on  its  brow,  or  even  the  stealthy  touch  of  a  finger 
moistened  with  saliva,  if  hostile  eyes  are  watching,  decides 
the  soul's  fate  for  eternity.  ^'^  This  does  not  commend  it- 
self to  Protestants. 

The  Catholic  schools  attach  most  importance  to  the  edu- 
cation of  ministers  for  the  church.  In  the  teaching  of 
manual  training  they  are  probably  superior  to  the  Protes- 
tant schools.  Outside  of  the  orphanages  connected  with 
the  convents,  Catholics  do  no  particular  medical  work. 
"  Of  late  years  they  have  done  little  proselyting.  They 
have  confined  their  labors  to  Catholic  families,  and  the 
natural  increase  has  made  them  powerful  and  numerous."  ^* 

The  charge  is  frequently  made  that  Catholics  are  still 
meddlers  in  politics,  ^®  but  Minister  Denby  has  never  seen 
any  proofs  of  this.  In  earlier  time  the  charge  was  doubt- 
less true.  When  the  native  Christians  were  abused  be- 
cause they  would  not  pay  the  Chinese  temple  tax,  the 
missionaries  naturally  defended  their  converts  in  the 
courts,  and,  having  learned  the  way,  some  times  exerted 

86  See  Rev.  A.  H.  Smith's  Missions  and  Sociology,  Missionary 
Review  of  the  world,  Feb.  1895. 

^'^  Cf .  Parkman's  Jesuits  in  North  America,  with  the  Annales 
XVII.  436;  XX.  268  etc.  and  the  Catholic  Review  (N.  Y.)  Mar.  9, 
1895.    The  baptizing  is  largely  done  by  nuns. 

88    Diplomatic  Correspondence,  1886,  p.  98. 

s»  Norman,  Peoples  in  the  Far  East,  p.  304. 


bo  Christian  Missions  in  China 

their  influence  in  things  not  religious.  Catholics  are 
agreed  to  have  been  the  great  offenders,  *^  but  Protestants 
were  not  blameless.  This  tendency  to  interfere  became 
recognized  by  two  parties,  the  people  and  the  government. 
The  effect  still  lingers.  "I  suspect  every  Chinese  who 
applies  for  baptism,"  said  Dr.  McKay,  "  that  he  has  be- 
come engaged  in  a  law  suit  and  thinks  that  by  joining  the 
church  he  will  get  some  support  from  the  foreigners."*^ 

The  foreign  governments  have  distinctly  warned  their 
subjects  that  they  must  not  interfere  in  Chinese  courts. 
When  the  emperor  issued  his  decrees  of  toleration  (1886, 
1891)  he  thought  it  necessary  to  state  that  a  Chinaman 
who  joined  the  church  was  still  subject  to  Chinese  laws.  *^ 
After  the  French  war  in  1883,  the  conviction  that  the 
Catholics  were  the  political  agents  of  France  became  so 
strong  that  the  Pope  was  obliged  to  station  a  legate  at 
Peking  to  combat  this  idea. 

It  can  not  be  denied  that  in  the  past  some  missionaries 
were  not  always  conciliatory  or  even  courteous  to  Chinese 
officials.  Missionaries  complained  of  annoyances  which 
the  government  could  not  prevent,  and  some  times  took 
means  of  emphasizing  their  complaints  which  were  neces- 
sarily offensive  to  the  government.  Once  when  three 
American  Protestants  thought  themselves  injured  in  a 
matter  of  house  rent,  they  presented  themselves  to  a  sub- 
ordinate officer,  strengthening  their  demands  for  immedi- 
ate justice  by  the  presence  of  the  captain  of  an  American 
man  of  war  and  a  hundred  armed  marines.  *^ 

Concerning  the  present  relative  standing  of  the  two 
creeds  beyond  the  matter  of  mere  statistics,  perhaps  no  one 
outside  of  China  is  competent  to  speak.  The  expressed 
opinions  are  either  those  of  partisans  or  of  chance  observ- 


40  Lawrence  Missions  in  the  East,  p.  69. 

41  Diplomatic  correspondence  1867,  I,  p.  67,  489.  Great  Britain  and 
Sweden  warned  their  subjects  in  China  in  1894.  Supplement  to  the 
Mission  Record  of  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  Church,  Sept.  1894. 

42  Diplomatic  correspondence,  1866,  I,  p.  540. 


Phases  of  Missionary  Work  51 

ers.  A  recent  traveler  writes:  "The  Catholics  receive 
more  consideration  and  do  a  much  greater  work  (than 
Protestants)  because  they  meet  the  native  ideas  of  priest- 
hood: poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience.  Moreover,  they 
meet  the  native  superstitions  half  way."*^  When  quoted 
in  full,  this  sentence  is  believed  by  neither  creed.  The 
external  facts  as  they  appear  in  the  non-partisan  language 
of  consular  reports  are  open  to  any  reader.  At  present  the 
missionaries  connected  with  the  government,  and  those 
who  are  developing  the  school  system,  are  Protestants. 
The  Catholics  have  probably  done  more  scientific  work  in 
China.  In  addition  to  the  services  mentioned  previously, 
they  have  made  geological  studies  in  several  of  the  prov- 
inces, **  they  have  an  astronomical  observatory  at  Nanking, 
and  their  observations  are  communicated  to  the  learned 
societies.*^ 

The  main  criticism  made  on  the  Protestants  is  that  they 
have  no  responsible  director,  no  unity  in  their  work,  and 
no  discipline.  *** 

There  is  doubtless  a  certain  amount  of  truth  in  all  this, 
but  it  does  not,  nevertheless,  fairly  represent  the  case. 
The  missionaries  are  carefully  selected.  Each  denomina- 
tion keeps  general  oversight  over  its  own  men.  The 
agents  of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  apparently  the  most 
unorganized,  are  looked  after  by  a  careful  system  of  in- 
spection. There  are  denominational  meetings  and  finally 
the  denominations  come  together  as  they  did  at  Shanghai 
in  1877  aud  1890,  in  interdenominational  societies  and 
councils.  Their  mission  magazine  is  interdenominational. 
There  are,  moreover,  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  the  Chris- 
tian Endeavor,  the  Education  Society,  the  Medical  So- 
ciety, the  Society  for  the  Dissemination  of  Knowledge, 
the  Bible  Committee  and  other  societies  where  the  denomi- 


*3  Norman,  Peoples  in  the  Far  East,  p,  304. 

■*•*  Revue  des  questiones  Scientifiques,  Brussels,  1889. 

*5  Missions  of  the  Jesuits  at  Nanking,  1874-5. 

*^  Michie,  Missionaries  in  China  pp.  51-53, 


52  Christian  Missions  in  China 

nations  work  together.  There  is  room  for  all  the  societies, 
and  the  work  of  each  is  planned  in  reference  to  all. 

China  is  without  doubt  the  most  difficult  of  the  mission 
fields,  and,  as  such,  it  has  had  from  the  first  missionaries 
of  unusual  ability,  men  who  would  be  eminent  anywhere. 
When  the  "  Cambridge  Band,"  five  university  men  and 
two  army  officers,  went  from  England  in  1886,  one  who 
was  there  wrote:  "When  before  were  the  stroke  of  a 
university  eight,  the  captain  of  a  university  eleven,  an 
officer  of  the  royal  artillery,  and  an  officer  of  the  dragoon 
guards  seen  standing  side  by  side,  renouncing  their  careers, 
the  prizes  of  earthly  ambition,  taking  leave  of  their  social 
circles,  and  plunging  into  that  warfare  whose  splendors 
are  seen  by  faith  alone."  *'^ 

Such  men  as  these  are  capable  of  organizing  efficient 
work.  Impracticables  are  soon  recognized.  There  may 
be  instances  of  eccentric  missionaries,  but  they  are  far 
from  the  rule.  A  more  just  criticisrn  relates  to  the  Protes- 
tant's shorter  term  of  service  as  compared  with  that  of  the 
Catholic.  The  married  Protestant  and  his  wife  undoubt- 
edly do  more  work  together  than  does  the  unmarried 
Catholic.  But  the  failure  of  the  health  of  either  husband 
or  wife  usually  causes  the  loss  of  two  workers. 

Methods  have  been  freely  varied  to  meet  the  needs  of 
the  situation.  The  most  recent  experiment  is  the  Mission 
to  ihe  Higher  Classes  begun  by  Rev.  Gilbert  Reed  in  1894. 
He  believes  that  China  can  be  transformed  only  by  its  own 
influential  men.  To  interest  them  he  thinks  that  there 
must  be  social  contact  on  an  equality,  extended  business 
relations  between  some  representative  of  the  missions  and 
the  ruling  mandarins,  the  establishment  of  a  museum 
showing  the  life  and  products  of  both  East  and  West, 
and  the  development  of  a  literature  especially  suited 
to  the  upper  classes.*^     One  of  the  great  hindrances  is 

4"^  Story  of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  I.  6;  11,  10. 
48  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  Feb.   1895.    Cf .   article  by 
Earnest  Faber,  D.  D.  in  the  Chinese  Recorder,  Dec.  1894. 


Phases  of  Missionary  Work  53 

the  lack  of  words  in  the  Chinese  language  capable  of  ex- 
pressing religious,  scientific,  and  historical  conceptions. 
The  language  has  been  already  greatly  enriched  by  the 
missionaries.  If  in  a  museum  there  should  be  exhibited 
as  many  of  the  concrete  subjects  of  thought  as  possible, 
it  is  believed  that  the  Chinese  would  become  more  inter- 
ested and  that  a  terminology  would  thus  be  developed 
helpful  to  all  parties. 


STATISTICS 


A.      CATHOLIC. 

It  is  especially  difficult  to  present  Catholic  statistics.  The 
figures  relating  to  the  Jesuits  are  from  the  Catalogus 
Patrum  at  Fratrum  e  Societate  Jesu,  Shanghai,  1873. 

The  cost  of  Catholic  missions  is  copied  from  the  annual 
reports  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith. 
These  do  not  probably  show  the  real  expenses  of  the  mis- 
sions. A  learned  Catholic  tells  me  that  they  are  not 
known  in  America.  Mr.  Michie,  in  The  Missionaries  in 
China,  says  that  a  large  part  of  the  expense  comes  from 
real  estate  business  in  China.  The  figures  given  should 
show  the  amount  contributed  by  the  Catholic  mission 
societies. 

List  of  provinces  in  China  Proper  arranged  geograph 
ically. 

1.  Pe-chi-li,  10.  Kiang-si, 

2.  Shang-Tung,  11.  Hou-Nan, 

3.  Kiang-su,  12.  Kuang-Tung, 

4.  Che-Kiang,  13.  Shen-si, 

5.  Fu-Kian,  14.  Kan-Suh, 

6.  Shan-si,  15.  Si-Chuen, 

7.  Ho-nan,  16.  Kuei-Chow, 

8.  Nang-hui,  17.  Kuang-Si, 

9.  Hu-Peh,  18.  Yunan. 

In  1720,  the  Jesuits  had  98  stations  in  provinces  1-8, 
10,  11,  13,  17,  besides  stations  in  Hainan.  In  all,  there 
entered  China  during  the  years 

1581-1600 15  Jesuit  Missionaries 

1600-1700 225 

1700-1779 210 

1779-1842 0 

1842-1872 191 

After  1779  the  missions  passed  to  other  orders,     In  1723, 


statistics  55 

300  churches  and  300,000  converts  were  reported.^  In 
1807  Sir  Geo.  Staunton  estimated  that  there  were  200,000 
Christians.^  The  Annals  for  September,  1878  compares 
the  development  by  means  of  this  table. 

In  1840  1878 

Bishops 14  23 

Priests 144  470 

Catholics 320,000  772,412 

The  mission  fields  are  grouped  for  administration  into 
five  "  Regiones  ". 

First — Manchuria,  Mongolia  and  Province  No.  1. 
Second— Provinces  4,  7,  8,  9,  10,  12. 
Third— Provinces  2,  3,  6,  11,  14. 
Fourth— Provinces  15,  16,  18,  and  Tibet. 
Fifth— Provinces  5,  13,  17. 

According  to  the  Orbis  Terrarum  Catholicus. 

REGIO  MEMBERS  PRIESTS 

1  had  in  1889 129,047      180 

2  "  169,138  245 

3  "  63,659  109 

4  " 117,699  261 

5  "  74,340  112 

553,883      907  (i) 

The  Hong  Kong  Register  for  1899  gives  the  number  of 
communicants  as  1,092,818.  The  Catholic  Church  counts 
as  members  all  children  of  a  Catholic  parent.  Of  the 
priests  558  were  foreigners;  one  foreign  priest  to  678,000 
of  the  population.  The  members  of  the  Mission  Etran- 
geres  of  Paris  furnish  about  two  fifths  of  the  missionaries, 
Lazarists  and  the  Jesuits  each  furnish  about  one-sixth  of 
the  missionaries,  Franciscans  about  one-eighth  of  the 
missionaries.     Five  other  orders  the  remainder. 

The  contributions  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Faith: 


1  Tracy's  History  of  the  American  Board,  232. 
2Laws  of  China,  p.  176. 

1  Part  of  Regions  1  and  4  are  outside  of  China  Properjto  which  the 
figures  of  the  Protestant  missions  are  confined. 


56  Statistics 


1824. 34,200  francs 

1830 83,580 

1840 217,036 

^850 371,600 

ll8<60 520,833 

J1870  (2) 347,220 

1880 808,313 

1889 768,800 

There  are— Colleges,  34. 

Convents  34. 

2  Estimate  based  on  usual  fraction  of  the  total  receipts. 
B.    PROTESTANT. 

From  the  Records  of  the  Slianghai  conferences.  The 
Story  of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  and  from  information 
furnished  by  the  various  mission  secretaries. 

MEMBERS. 

1814 1  1865 2,000 

1834 3  1876 13,035 

1842 6  1889 37,287 

1853 350  1895 55,000 

COMPARISON. 

1877  1890 

Churches 312  522 

Wholly  self  supporting 18  94 

Members 13,035  37,287 

Pupils 1,388  16,836 

.     Hospitals 16  61 

Dispensaries 24  44 

Missionaries 473  1,296 

Native  contributions $9,271.92  $36,884.54 

List  of  Protestant  Societies  which  in  1890  had  over  ten 

agents  in  China  Proper. 

1890 

NO.  NAME  ESTABLISHED  AGENTS  IN 

1  London 1807  65 

2  American  Board 1830  83 

3  "  Baptist,  North 1834  34 

4  "  Episcopal 1835  18 

5  "  Presbyterian,  North.  1835  122 

6  "  Reformed  Church...  1842  16 

7  British  Bible  Society 1843  x  18 

8  English  Church 1844  56 

9  English  Baptist 1845  36 

10  American  Methodist,  North ....  1847  99 

11  American  Baptist,  South 1847  35 

12  Basel  Mission 1847  33 


statistics 


57 


NO.  IfAME  ESTABLISHED 

13  English  Presbyterian 1847 

14  Methodist  South 1848 

15  English  Wesleyan 1852 

16  Methodist,  New 1860 

17  China  Inland  Mission 1865 

18  American  Presbyterian,  South .  1867 

19  Canadian  Presbyterian 1871 

20  Society  Propagation  Gospel 1874 

21  Berlin  Mission 1882 

22  English  Bible  Christians 1885 

Other  Societies 


1890 

AGENTS   IN 

51 
32 

31 


12 

366* 

28 

15 


13 
11 

14 
92 


X  Appropriated  money  earlier. 

*  634  in  1894. 

One  Protestant  Missionary  to  30,000  Chinese. 


1280 


ESTIMATED  COST  OP  PROTESTANT  MISSIONS. 


THE  SOCIETIES   INDICATED   BY  THE  NUMBERS  BELOW 


NO. 

PAID  UP  TO 

1840 

PAID  IN 

1840 

1850 

1860 

1870 

1880 

1890 

1 

2 
3 

4 
5 

$378,495 

*  22,000 

*  10,000 

*  4,000 
9,500 

22,435 

4,617 

*  1,200 

1,490 

4,140 

37,200 
15,421 
10,039 
9,089 
18,760 

37,814 
19,741 
14,622 
26,657 
55,761 

50,193 
53,223 
23,883 
20,906 

77,688 

57,272 
46,751 
22,483 
49,881 
58,812 

67,041 

104,701 

31,605 

69,653 

147,389 

6 
10 
11 
12 

9,513 
1,626 

5,651 
25,567 

4,507 

14,348 
43,347 

11,606 

16,262 
44,589 

18,728 

21,008 
118,642 

29,979 

U 
17 

18 

7,648 

8,118 

10,000 
18,477 

30,248 
12,479 

33,170 
27,331 

^,,        ^       .    ,.  *(6)  *(8)  *(ll)  *(14)  (25) 

Other  Societies  53,000      75,700    153,000    167,000     290,000 

Figures  not  marked  with  *  are  exact. 
Table  continued  on  nej:t  page. 


58 


Christian  Missions  in  China 


1894 


TOTAL 


REMARKS 


108,857 

107,657 

75,428 

75,267 

185,698 

3,128,043 

2,147,500* 

1,100,001* 

1,335,000* 

3,000,000* 

21,081 
121,389 

25,250 

543,571* 
1,880,500* 

649,827 

34,131 

156,398 

30,150 

709,905 
590,000 

295,000*     6,700,000* 
A  grand  total  of  not 
less  than  $22,000,000. 

1.      The  average  for  the  decade  is  given. 

1-6.  Before  1842  much  of  the  money  was 
spent  in  Siam.  Only  two  societies 
separate  the  accounts  before  1842. 


Its  money  is  counted  with  2  till  this 
year. 


The  numbers  in  ( )  give  the  number  of 
other  societies  in  the  year. 


SOCIETIBS 
SPENT. 

English 

American $538,000 

Scotch 331,181 


IN  ADDITION 
THE  BIBLE  HAVE   CIRCULATED 

BIBLES   AND  PARTS 
OF  BIBLES. 


4,353,188 
2,701,495 


Up  to  about  1877,  the  average  cost  per  missionary  was 
nearly  $2,000  dollars.  The  cost  has  been  steadily  lessen- 
ing as  buildings  are  provided.  The  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  women  missionaries  also  reduce  the  average.  In 
1894,  under  pressure,  the  average  cost  was  under  $1,000. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 


It  does  not  eeem  necessary  to  mention  all  the  works  con- 
sulted in  the  preparation  of  this  paper,  or  even  referred  to 
in  it. 

The  writer's  thanks  are  due  to  many  librarians.  The 
interest  and  courtesy  of  four  especially  have  given  access 
to  books  not  easily  accessible.  They  are  the  librarians  of 
Saint  Mary's  Seminary,  Baltimore;  of  the  College  of  the 
Jesuit  Fathers  at  Woodstook,  Md.,  of  the  Congregational- 
ist  library  at  Boston,  and  of  Harvard  University. 

Lists  of  books  on  Chinese  missions  may  be  found  in 
the  Minutes  of  the  London  Conference  of  Missionaries, 
1888;  in  Funk  and  Wagnall's  Encyclopedia  of  Missions, 
vol.  II,  appendix;  and  in  the  more  recent  Descriptive  Cata- 
logue of  Books  on  Missions,  E.  M.  Bliss,  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Publication,  1895.  Williams'  Middle  Kingdom 
gives  the  best  general  account  of  the  missions  up  to  about 
1887.  The  best  general  history  of  China  which  gives  con- 
sideration to  mission  questions  is  Boulgar's,  3  vol.  edition 
1884;  Martin's  Chinese  Education,  McCartney's  Laws  of 
China,  Legge's  Religion  of  China,  Lockhart's  Medical 
Missions  in  China,  1861,  and  Lowe's  Medical  Missions, 
1886,  give  special  information.  The  Medical  Missionary 
Record,  New  York,  gives  the  best  account  of  the  medical 
missionary  conditions  at  present. 

EARLY   PERIOD. 

For  the  Early  Period  the  authorities  are: — Legge,  Nes- 
torian  Monument,  1888.  The  Narrative  of  Gonzalez  de 
Mendoza,  1596,  reprinted  by  the  Hakluyt  Society,  1853. 
Le  Comte  (de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus),  Noveaux  Memoires 
sur  PEtat  de  la  China,  Amsterdam,  1698.  De  Christiana 
Expeditione  apud  Sinas  suscepta  a  Sooitate  Jesu,  ex.  P. 


60  Christian  Missions  in  China 

Ricci — comentariis,  auctore  P.  N.  Trisgautio.  Augustse 
Vindel,  1615.  This  is  the  best  account  of  Father  Ricci's 
work,  and  is  the  source  largely  of  Yule's  Cathay  and  the 
Way  Thither.  Kircher,  China,  Monumentis  qua  sacris 
qua  profanis  illustrata,  Amstelodami,  1667.  Du  Halde,  J. 
B.  (S.  J.)  Description  of  China.  English  translation, 
London,  1741. 

ROMAN  CATHOLIC  PERIOD. 

For  the  Roman  Catholic  Period  the  authorities  are: — 
Catalogus  Patrum  ac  Fratrum  e  Sociate  Jesu  qui  ad  1872 
in  Sinas  adlaboraverunt.  Shanghai,  1873.  Hue,  E.  R., 
Abbe,  (R.  C.)  Christianity  in  China.  Marshall,  T.  W.  M. 
(R.  C.)  Christian  Missions.  The  great  source  for  the 
Catholic  Period  after  1650  is  the  collection  of  Letters  Edi- 
fiantes,  a  mine  of  literary  material.  This  paper  refers  to 
the  twenty-four  volume  edition,  Paris,  1838.  A  few  of 
the  letters  have  been  translated  in  Lockman's  Travels  of 
the  Jesuits,  and  in  Kip's  Historical  Scenes  from  Old 
Jesuit  Missions.  The  letters  give  the  best  account  of  the 
Jews  in  China  as  they  were  then.  For  a  recent  account 
see  Biblia,  Oct.  1894. 

MODERN    PERIOD. 

For  the  Modern  Period  some  of  the  authorities  are: — 
Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi, — faisant  suite  aux 
Lettres  Edifiantes.  Begun  at  Paris  and  Lyons  in  1835. 
After  1849  there  is  an  English  edition  which  is  referred  to 
in  this  paper  as  "  Annals." 

The  corresponding  Protestant  Publication  is  the  Chinese 
Repository,  1832-1852.  After  1852  this  is  called  the 
Chinese  Recorder. 

The  English  papers  printed  in  China  and  the  Chinese 
Correspondence  of  the  Japan  Mail  give  Mission  news  and 
have  much  information  about  the  Missions  presented  in 
very  unconventional  fashion. 

The  most  important  nonpartisan  evidence  is  furnished 
in  the  Diplomatic  Correspondence  between  western  nations 
and  China. 


Bibliographical  Notes  61 

The  Chinese  opinion  of  missions  is  set  forth  in  the 
Death  Blow  to  Corrupt  Doctrines.  A  Plain  Statement  of 
Facts,  Published  by  the  Gentry  and  the  People.  Trans- 
lated from  the  Chinese.  Shanghai,  1870.  Each  mission 
Society  publishes  brief  histories  of  its  work  and  there  are 
many  biographies.  Some  of  the  most  important  are: — 
Morrison's  Memoirs,  written  by  his  widow.  A  series  of 
books  written  by  Charles  Gutzlaff,  and  published  from 
1830  to  1850.  Tracy,  History  of  the  American  Board. 
Reid,  History  of  the  Methodist  Missions,  a  new  edition  is 
in  press.  Pitcher,  Fifty  years  in  Amoy,  (The  German 
Reformed  Church).  Guiness,  Story  of  the  China  Island 
Mission.  Strickland,  History  of  the  American  Bible  So- 
ciety. Lebouck,  Mission  Catholicus,  St.  Louis,  1890.  Re- 
lations de  la  mission  de  Nan-King  confide  aux  Compagnie 
de  Jesus,  Shanghai,  1876.  Orbis  Terrarum  Catholicus, 
Werner,  St.  Louis,  1890.  Valuable  material  may  be  found 
in  the  Records  of  the  two  Shanghai  Conferences  1887  and 
1890,  and  in  the  Records  of  the  London  Missionary  Con- 
ference 1888.  The  managers  of  the  mission  societies  usu- 
ally hold  an  annual  inter-denominational  conference,  and 
print  a  minute  of  their  meeting.  The  present  condition 
of  the  missions  is  seen  best  in  the  various  missionary  pe- 
riodicals, and  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  Chinese  associa- 
tions, e.  g.,  the  missionary  Hand-book  and  the  Reports  of 
the  Educational  Association.  These  are  printed  at  Shang- 
hai. Much  is  printed  also  in  the  journals  of  the  Asiatic 
Societies. 


'OJf  .>3 

JO 
3HJ.  ,.0 


BIOGRAPHICAIe  SKETCH 

Charles  Sumner  Estes  was  born  at  Thomaston,  Maine, 
November  12,  1858,  the  son  of  Sumner  and  Sarah  (Holt) 
Estes.  He  was  graduated  from  Colby  University  in  1884, 
From  1884  to  1891  he  was  Associate  Principal  of  Ricker 
Institute,  Maine.  From  1891  to  1895  he  was  a  student  at 
the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  taking  History  as  his  major 
subject,  and  as  subordinates,  Latin  and  Roman  Law.  He 
holds  in  grateful  remembrance  the  advice  and  instruction 
of  Professors  Herbert  B.  Adams,  Minton  Warren,  Greorge 
H.  Emmott,  and  J.  M.  Vincent. 


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